Breen presents bill to improve pay equality for Mainers

AUGUSTA — Sen. Cathy Breen, D-Falmouth, presented a bill that would improve pay equality in Maine. LD 278, “An Act Regarding Pay Equality,” received a public hearing before the Labor and Housing Committee on Wednesday morning.

“The ultimate goal of this bill is to promote fairness and transparency,” said Sen. Breen. “We know that women are paid 82 cents for every dollar their male counterparts earn. Diminished wages increase a person’s risk of poverty and severely impact their ability to save for retirement. It only makes sense – for our workers and for our economy as a whole – that we make sure Mainers have pay equality.”

LD 278 would prevent employers from asking prospective hires about their compensation history. All too often, people in marginalized populations face pay discrimination and unfair compensation; an act of pay discrimination early in a person’s career should not negatively impact their pay for the rest of their career. The bill also stops employers from banning employees from discussing pay.

“Reliance on salary history in hiring practices allows for past discrimination based on gender and other factors to follow workers from job to job,” said Whitney Parrish of the Maine Women’s Lobby, who testified in support of the bill. “A rapidly increasing number of states and localities are prohibiting employers from seeking salary histories, and businesses are finding the practice neither necessary nor beneficial.”

The bill faces further action in the committee and votes before the full Maine House and Senate.