The Maryland Fair Employment Practices Act prohibits discrimination in employment on the basis of sex, sexual orientation, and marital status (MD State Govt. Code Sec. 20-601 et seq.). The Act applies to all employers with 15 or more employees.
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Download Now Public works contracts. Discrimination in state public works contracts because of sex is also prohibited, and all such contracts must include a clause to that effect (MD Code State Finance and Procurement Sec. 13-219 et seq.).
Apprenticeship and training. Employers are also prohibited from discriminating on the basis of sex, sexual orientation, or marital status in apprenticeship, training, and retraining programs (MD State Govt. Code Sec. 20-606 ).
Bona fide occupational qualification (BFOQ) exception. Differences in treatment are permissible where they are “reasonably necessary” to the normal operation of that particular business or enterprise. Thus, advertisements may indicate a preference, limitation, specification, or discrimination based on sex, but only where gender is a BFOQ. These situations are rare, however, and should be handled with extreme caution.
Employers must treat disabilities caused by pregnancy or childbirth the same as other temporary disabilities under the employer's leave, benefits, and insurance policies (MD State Govt. Code Sec. 20-609 ). Additional information is available.
The Maryland Equal Pay Act prohibits all employers from discriminating in wages on the basis of sex for work in the same operation, in the same business, or for the same type of work (MD Code Labor and Employment Sec. 3-304). The Act does not prohibit wage differentials that result from differences in seniority, merit, ...