An Act to Amend the Maine Equal Pay Law by Prohibiting Pay Discrimination Based on Race
Maine Legislature, Session 131, LD 1703
Committee: Labor and Housing
Sponsors: TALBOT ROSS, JACKSON, ABDI, DHALAC, RANA, BENNETT, DUSON, HICKMAN
Amends: 26 MRSA §628

Legislative Document
No. 1703
H.P. 1092
House of Representatives, April 18, 2023
An Act to Amend the Maine Equal Pay Law by Prohibiting Pay 
Discrimination Based on Race
Reference to the Committee on Labor and Housing suggested and ordered printed.
ROBERT B. HUNT
Clerk
Presented by Speaker TALBOT ROSS of Portland.
Cosponsored by President JACKSON of Aroostook and
Representatives: ABDI of Lewiston, DHALAC of South Portland, RANA of Bangor, Senators: 
BENNETT of Oxford, DUSON of Cumberland, HICKMAN of Kennebec.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1.  26 MRSA §628, as amended by PL 2019, c. 35, §3, is further amended to 
read:
§628.  Equal pay
This section may be known and cited as "the Maine Equal Pay Law."
An employer may not discriminate between employees in the same establishment on 
the basis of sex by paying wages to any employee in any occupation in this State at a rate 
less than the rate at which the employer pays any employee of the opposite sex for 
comparable work on jobs that have comparable requirements relating to skill, effort and 
responsibility. An employer may not discriminate between employees in the same 
establishment on the basis of race by paying wages to any employee in any occupation in 
this State at a rate less than the rate at which the employer pays any employee of another 
race for comparable work on jobs that have comparable requirements relating to skill, effort 
and responsibility. Differentials that are paid pursuant to established seniority systems or 
merit increase systems or difference in the shift or time of the day worked that do not 
discriminate on the basis of sex or race are not within this prohibition the prohibitions in 
this section. An employer may not discharge or discriminate against any employee by 
reason of any action taken by such employee to invoke or assist in any manner the 
enforcement of this section.  An employer may not prohibit an employee from disclosing 
the employee's own wages or from inquiring about or disclosing another employee's wages 
if the purpose of the disclosure or inquiry is to enforce the rights granted by this section.  
Nothing in this section creates an obligation to disclose wages.
The Department of Labor shall annually report to the joint standing committee of the 
Legislature having jurisdiction over labor matters on progress made in the State to comply 
with this section.  The report must be issued annually on Equal Pay Day as designated 
pursuant to Title 1, section 145.
SUMMARY
The current law provides that an employer may not discriminate between employees 
in the same establishment on the basis of sex by paying wages to any employee in any 
occupation at a rate less than the rate at which the employer pays any employee of the 
opposite sex for comparable work on jobs that have comparable requirements relating to 
skill, effort and responsibility.  This bill adds to that law a provision that an employer may 
not discriminate between employees in the same establishment on the basis of race.  The 
bill also provides that the law may be known and cited as "the Maine Equal Pay Law."