Maine pay transparency law: posting ranges and pay-history records

Maine's pay transparency law took effect July 29, 2026. Employers with 10 or more employees must include the prospective range of pay in every job posting, whether they post directly or through a third party. Every employer, whatever its size, must also tell a current employee the pay range for their position on request and keep a record of each employee's positions and pay history for the length of employment plus three years. That second half is easy to overlook because it has nothing to do with job ads.

The statute

The law is LD 54 (H.P. 18), "An Act to Require Employers to Disclose Pay Ranges and Maintain Records of Employees' Pay Histories," approved by the Governor on April 24, 2026 as Public Law chapter 771. It enacts a new section, 26 M.R.S. § 622-A, "Pay transparency." Because it was not an emergency measure, it took effect on July 29, 2026, the general effective date for nonemergency laws from that legislative session. The act also funds one Labor and Safety Inspector position at the Maine Department of Labor specifically to enforce the new requirements.

Who must post a range

Subsection 2 applies to "an employer that has 10 or more employees." The section does not say where those employees must be, and it does not say whether part-time employees count differently. Until the Department of Labor says otherwise, the cautious reading is that a company with 10 or more employees anywhere is covered when it posts a Maine job. Employers below 10 do not have to post a range, but they still have the on-request and record-keeping duties described below.

What counts as a posting

The law defines a "posting" as a solicitation intended to recruit applicants "for a specific available position" that includes qualifications for desired applicants. It expressly includes recruitment done directly by an employer or indirectly through a third party, and postings made electronically or in printed hard copy. Two practical consequences:

• Agency and job board ads are covered. If a recruiter or agency advertises the role for you, the range must be in that ad too. The duty is phrased as the employer's: it "shall ensure that a posting includes" the range, so the employer is responsible for what its recruiters publish.
• General "we're hiring" notices are probably not. A banner with no specific position and no qualifications does not fit the definition. A specific role with listed requirements does.

What the posting must say

A covered posting must include "a statement that lists the prospective range of pay the employer will offer to a successful applicant." The statute defines "range of pay" as the range the employer anticipates relying on in setting wages for the position, and lists four reference points it may use: an applicable pay scale, a previously determined range for the position, the actual range of wages for those currently in equivalent positions, or the budgeted amount.

Maine does not require a benefits description, and it does not say anything about bonus or equity. It does carve out one category: if the position is compensated solely on commission, the posting must instead state that compensation for the position is based solely on commission. A role with a base salary plus commission is not "solely" commission, so it needs a range for the base.

The statute does not address internal-only postings, promotions or transfers separately. Its posting definition turns on recruiting "applicants" for a "specific available position," which on its face could include an internal opening. Including the range in internal postings is the safer course and keeps the process consistent.

Duties that apply to every Maine employer

Subsection 3 applies without any size threshold:

• On request, disclose the employee's range. When an employee asks, the employer must disclose the range of pay it offers for the position that employee holds.
• Keep pay-history records. The employer must maintain a record of each position an employee has held and the employee's pay history in each position, for the duration of employment and for three years after it ends.

Many payroll systems hold this data already, but not always by position. If an employee moved from one title to another, the record should show both titles and the pay attached to each. Add the three-year post-employment period to your retention schedule; the candidate data retention policy template is a useful starting point for writing it down, though employee pay records belong in your HR schedule rather than the candidate one.

Remote roles

Section 622-A does not say how it applies to remote positions or to employers outside Maine. It also does not define a "Maine" job. The practical approach most multi-state employers take is to include a range in any posting a Maine-based applicant could apply for, because the cost of including a range is small and Maine's neighbors that require ranges, Massachusetts and Vermont, apply their own laws on overlapping terms. See the Massachusetts pay transparency guide and the Vermont guide for how they define covered roles.

Salary history is already off limits

Maine has banned compensation-history questions since 2019. Under 26 M.R.S. § 628-A, an employer may not use or inquire about a prospective employee's compensation history, from the candidate or from a current or former employer, until an offer of employment that includes all terms of compensation has been negotiated and made. After that, the employer may ask about or confirm the history. Ask about expectations instead; see salary expectation questions for wording.

Enforcement and penalties

Section 622-A does not contain its own penalty clause. It sits inside Title 26, chapter 7, subchapter 2, and the general penalty section for that subchapter, 26 M.R.S. § 626-A, applies to violations of "sections 621-A to 623," a range that includes 622-A. Under it, a violation is subject to a fine of not less than $100 nor more than $500 for each violation.

How the department will count violations, per posting or per day or per job board, is not addressed in the statute, and we found no guidance on it as of October 2026.

What agencies should do

Because a Maine "posting" includes recruitment done "indirectly through a 3rd party," an agency's ad for a client's Maine role is the client's posting for compliance purposes. The client is the one that must "ensure" the range is there, which in practice means the client will look to the agency's ad first if a complaint arrives. Ask at intake for the range, whether the client has 10 or more employees, and whether the role is paid solely on commission. Do not rewrite a client's range to look more competitive; the statute ties the range to what the employer anticipates relying on, not to what an ad needs to attract applicants.

A Maine checklist

MAINE PAY TRANSPARENCY CHECKLIST (26 M.R.S. § 622-A, from July 29, 2026)

Postings (employers with 10 or more employees)
[ ] Every posting for a specific position includes the prospective
    range of pay the employer will offer
[ ] Range built from a pay scale, prior range, current equivalent pay,
    or the budget, and the source is recorded
[ ] Commission-only roles state that pay is based solely on commission
[ ] Agency and job board versions carry the same range

All employers
[ ] Process to give an employee the range for their own position when
    they ask
[ ] Records of each position held and pay in each position, kept for
    employment plus 3 years
[ ] No compensation-history questions before a full offer is made

For how Maine fits among the other states that require a posted range, see pay transparency laws by state.