Maryland Pay Transparency Law: The 2026 Employer Guide

Maryland Pay Transparency Law: The 2026 Employer Guide

If you hire for any role that touches Maryland, every job posting you publish has to carry three things: a wage range, a general description of benefits, and any other compensation the role offers. There is no employee-count threshold to hide behind. A 10-person startup and a 10,000-person enterprise face the exact same rule. It lives in Maryland's Wage Range Transparency Act, which amended the state's Equal Pay for Equal Work law at Labor & Employment §3-304.2 and took effect October 1, 2024.

This guide walks you through exactly who the law covers, what a compliant posting must contain, how Maryland's version differs from other states', what enforcement really looks like, and how to build ranges that hold up. If you run compensation or talent for a company with even a single Maryland-based hire, treat this as your working checklist.

TL;DR: Maryland pay transparency at a glance

• The Wage Range Transparency Act (SB 525) took effect October 1, 2024 and applies to all employers — there is no size threshold.
• It covers any job physically performed at least in part in Maryland, including remote roles where an out-of-state company seeks a Maryland-based worker.
• Every internal and external posting must include a wage range (minimum and maximum), a general description of benefits, and any other compensation.
• Open-ended ranges are prohibited. "$30+ an hour" is not compliant; if there is no range, list a fixed rate.
• Multiple locations or seniority levels each need their own range.
• Employers must keep records of compliance for at least three years.
• Enforcement runs through the Commissioner of Labor and Industry: a compliance order first, then up to $300 per affected person, then up to $600 for repeat violations within three years.

Who the Maryland pay transparency law covers

Start with the fact that surprises most employers: Maryland set no headcount minimum. States like Minnesota (30 employees) and Illinois (15) exempt small employers. Maryland does not. If you post a covered job, you comply — whether you have five employees or five thousand.

Coverage turns on where the work happens, not where your company sits. The Act reaches any position "physically performed, at least in part, in the State of Maryland." The Maryland Department of Labor's official FAQs clarify two edges of that test that matter in practice:

• Remote roles count. If your company is headquartered in another state but you advertise a remote job and you're open to a Maryland-based candidate filling it, that posting is covered. Location-agnostic remote listings almost always fall inside the rule.
• Occasional in-state work does not count. A job based elsewhere that only sometimes brings someone into Maryland — for a meeting, a conference, or a conversation with Maryland staff — is not "physically performed" in the state for these purposes.

The definition of employer is broad, and third-party postings are explicitly included. If a staffing agency, recruiter, or job board publishes your opening on your behalf, the posting still has to carry the range, benefits, and other compensation. The rule follows the job, not the channel. If you hire across several states, Maryland rarely stands alone — layer it onto the wider patchwork we map in our 2026 multi-state pay transparency compliance guide so one national posting can satisfy the strictest jurisdiction it touches.

What every job posting must include

Section 3-304.2 asks for three elements in each posting, and all three carry weight.

1. The wage range. You must state the minimum and maximum wage or salary you expect, in good faith, to pay for the role. Maryland gives you four acceptable ways to set that range: an applicable pay scale, a previously determined range for the position, the actual range currently paid to employees in comparable positions, or the amount you've budgeted for the role. Pick whichever reflects reality and document it.

2. A general description of benefits. The posting needs a plain-language summary of what the role offers beyond base pay. The Maryland DOL's non-exhaustive list includes employer-provided health, life, and other insurance; paid or unpaid time off such as sick days, vacation, and leaves of absence; retirement or savings plans like a 401(k) or employer-funded pension; and other forms such as employer-provided meals or lodging.

3. Any other compensation. This is the catch-all, and Maryland reads it broadly — "any" earnings or monetary compensation an employee receives in return for work. The DOL specifically names overtime, compensatory time, differentials, premium pay, tips, commissions, bonuses, stock or stock options, and any portion of service charges.

A few rules sharpen how you present the range:

• No open-ended ranges. You cannot post "$80,000 and up" or "$30+ an hour." State a real floor and ceiling.
• A range per opportunity. If one posting spans multiple locations or several seniority levels, each location and each level needs its own range. One catch-all band across a Baltimore and a Bethesda role, or across a junior and senior title, does not comply.
• Reposting resets nothing. The same disclosure applies every time you repost. You may adjust the range on a repost, provided you still hold a good-faith belief that it's accurate.

If an applicant somehow reaches you before a role is posted, you still have to disclose the wage range before you talk compensation, and again at any point the applicant asks. The Maryland DOL even publishes an optional compensation disclosure form and sample narratives you can adapt. Using the state's form is not required, but it's a useful template for standardizing your language across every posting.

How Maryland compares to other state pay transparency laws

Maryland sits at the stricter end of the spectrum, and three features stand out.

The benefits-and-other-compensation requirement is the piece employers most often miss. Plenty of states ask only for a salary range. Maryland asks for the range plus a benefits summary plus the full menu of other pay. A posting that lists only "$95,000–$115,000" is incomplete under Maryland law even though it would satisfy a simpler state. Build your template to the Maryland standard and you clear most other jurisdictions in one move.

The "no threshold" rule is the second trap. Small and mid-size employers that assumed pay transparency was a big-company problem are squarely covered here. If you've been watching these laws roll out and thought your headcount kept you out, Maryland closes that door.

Enforcement and penalties: what's actually at risk

Maryland enforces this administratively through the Commissioner of Labor and Industry rather than through private lawsuits, and the penalty structure escalates:

• First violation: the Commissioner issues an order compelling compliance — effectively a written warning that puts you on notice.
• Second violation: a civil penalty of up to $300 for each employee or applicant affected by the non-compliant posting.
• Each subsequent violation within three years: up to $600 per affected employee or applicant.

Those per-person figures look modest until you multiply. A single non-compliant posting for a high-volume role can draw dozens or hundreds of applicants, and the penalty attaches per affected person. A repeat pattern across several roles compounds quickly.

There's a recordkeeping obligation attached, too. You must keep a record of your compliance for each position for at least three years after the position is filled — or, if it's never filled, three years after it was first posted. In practice, that means saving the posting text, the range, and how you derived it. If the Commissioner ever asks, your documentation is your defense.

How to build ranges that hold up

Compliance is the floor. The harder part is posting ranges you can actually defend — to candidates, to current employees who will read them, and to a regulator. A range you can't explain invites exactly the pay-equity questions these laws are designed to surface.

That defensibility comes from structure, not guesswork. When your pay ranges trace back to a consistent method for evaluating roles, every number on a posting has a rationale behind it. A point-factor job evaluation scores each role against weighted compensable factors — skill, effort, responsibility, and working conditions — so two jobs with similar internal value land in comparable ranges. That's the backbone of a range you can stand behind when a Maryland candidate, or the Commissioner, asks how you set it.

If your current ranges are a patchwork of one-off decisions, now is the time to tighten them. See our walkthrough on building defensible pay ranges and, if you suspect gaps, run a pay equity audit before those numbers go public.

PointFactors turns job evaluation into a transparent, repeatable system — so the ranges you publish in Maryland trace back to a method you can defend. See how it works with a quick demo.

Maryland pay transparency compliance checklist

Work through this before your next Maryland-touching posting goes live:

• Confirm the role is physically performed at least partly in Maryland, including any remote listing open to a Maryland candidate.
• Set a good-faith wage range with a real minimum and maximum — no open-ended figures.
• Add a general description of benefits: insurance, time off, retirement, and any perks.
• List other compensation: bonuses, commissions, overtime, differentials, equity, tips, and the like.
• Give each location and each seniority level its own range in multi-role postings.
• Apply the same disclosures to internal postings and to anything a recruiter or job board publishes for you.
• Save the posting and your range rationale for at least three years.

Frequently asked questions

When did Maryland's pay transparency law take effect? The Wage Range Transparency Act (SB 525) took effect October 1, 2024. Governor Wes Moore signed it April 25, 2024. It amended Maryland's existing Equal Pay for Equal Work law, including §3-304.2.

Does the law apply to small employers? Yes. Maryland set no employee-count threshold. Every employer that posts a covered job must comply, regardless of size.

Does it cover remote jobs? Yes, when the work is performed at least partly in Maryland. The Maryland DOL confirmed that a remote role advertised by an out-of-state company is covered if the employer would accept a Maryland-based worker. Jobs that only occasionally require Maryland work, such as a meeting or conference, are not covered.

What exactly has to be in a job posting? Three things: a wage range with a minimum and maximum, a general description of benefits, and any other compensation offered. All three are required in both internal and external postings.

Can I post an open-ended range like "$30+ per hour"? No. Open-ended ranges are not compliant. State a real minimum and maximum, or, if there is no range, list a fixed rate.

What are the penalties for non-compliance? The Commissioner of Labor and Industry issues a compliance order for a first violation, a penalty of up to $300 per affected employee or applicant for a second, and up to $600 per person for each subsequent violation within three years.

Do I have to use Maryland's disclosure form? No. The Maryland DOL provides an optional compensation disclosure form and sample narratives, but you may use your own format as long as it includes all required elements.

How long must I keep records? Keep a record of compliance for each position for at least three years after it's filled, or after it was first posted if it's never filled.

The bottom line

Maryland's rule is short, but it reaches further than most: no size threshold, remote roles included, and a disclosure that covers pay, benefits, and everything else a role offers. The employers who handle it well don't treat it as a formatting exercise — they treat it as a prompt to make sure every published number rests on a defensible method. Build your postings to the Maryland standard, document how you set each range, and you'll clear this law and most of the others at the same time.

Ready to make your pay ranges transparent and defensible? Book a PointFactors demo or see pricing to get started.

Justin Hampton is the founder and CEO of PointFactors.