MACo Policy Associate Drew Jabin submitted written testimony to support with amendments HB 123 – Labor and Employment – Wage History and Wage Range. As written, this bill would require employers to exclude a variety of wage and salary history when offering jobs or promotions. If applied to the public sector, counties fear this law could eliminate numerous structured promotion opportunities which allow local government employees a career path forward based on workplace success and experience gained.

From the MACo Testimony:

Public sector employers are already subject to a wide range of transparency measures in hiring and employment practices – far beyond those applying to other employers. While counties already comply with the majority of requirements outlined in this bill, MACo is concerned that prohibiting county employers from considering current wages in the internal promotion or transfer of current employees is impractical. MACo requests amendments to remove government employers from its effect.

This bill could undermine many local government pay systems, which frequently rely on a standardized scale of wages when considering the internal promotion of current employees. Such scales are graduated according to duties performed, length of service, and efficiency of the officers or employees. Undermining such systems serves no practical purpose in the public sector, where benefit and pay structures are already subject to public input and scrutiny.

Follow MACo’s advocacy efforts during the 2020 legislative session on MACo’s Legislative Tracking Database.