By Katherine Brustowicz, Denise Chicoine, David Gabor, Johanna Matloff and Virgina Peabody
I. Massachusetts: Pay Transparency Law Takes Effect
In February 2025, the Wagner Law Group reported on amendments to the Massachusetts Equal Pay Act, which included new data reporting obligations and pay transparency rules for Massachusetts employers. Specifically, employers with 100 or more employees are now required to submit wage data reports on February 1 of each year. See “Massachusetts Pay Transparency Law: Key Provisions and Compliance Timeline.” (HB4890).
Beginning on October 29, 2025, new salary posting rules under the Act take effect and apply to Massachusetts employers with 25 or more employees. The new salary posting requirements include: (i) disclosing pay ranges (annual salary or hourly wage) in all job postings – internal or external, and (ii) providing pay range information upon an employee’s request for their current position and/or when offering a promotion or transfer to a new role.
Employers should begin preparing now to ensure their HR departments, job postings, and internal processes are fully compliant well in advance of the deadline and in anticipation of a more transparent labor market. This is also a good time for employers to review the total compensation packages for all employees and/or conduct an audit of job functions and corresponding pay to ensure equity and fairness in the workforce with an eye toward retaining top talent.
II. Maine: Paid Family & Medical Leave Contributions Begin
Contributions to Maine’s Paid Family and Medical Leave (“PFML”) Fund began on January 1, 2025. Once the benefits are available, all (full-time and part-time) employees in the private and public sectors (other than federal employees) will be able to take up to 12 weeks of paid leave per year if they earn at least six times the state average weekly wage (“SAWW”) in earnings subject to PFML premiums during the four quarters preceding the benefit year. Self-employed individuals may opt into the program if they wish to do so.
Covered individuals may take leave for reasons that include their own serious health condition, bonding with a new child, caring for a family member with a serious health condition, addressing issues related to a family member’s military service, and for any other reason set forth in 26 M.R.S. § 843(4).
Employers with 15 or more covered employees must pay a premium of 1% of wages to the ME PFML Fund, but may deduct up to 50% of the premium (0.5% of wages) from employees’ wages. Employers with fewer than 15 employees are required to contribute 0.5% and may deduct the full amount from employees’ wages.
Employers can deduct their share of the premium as a business expense. In the case of a pick-up (i.e., where an employer with 15 or more employees chooses to pay the entire 1%, covering both its and its employees’ contributions), the employer may deduct the whole amount as a business expense.
Employers that maintain a private plan providing benefits, rights, and protections that are “substantially equivalent” to the state program may apply for a private plan exemption and need not make contributions to the ME PFML Fund. Such plans must meet specific requirements. For example, a private plan must provide a substantially equivalent wage replacement rate, maximum weekly benefit amount, and duration of leave, and allow for the same covered reasons for taking leave as specified under the state program. If the private plan is self-insured, the employer must furnish a bond to the state with a surety company authorized to transact business in the state. In addition, a contested benefit determination by a private plan is subject to an appeal before the Department of Family and Medical Leave. (see 26 M.R.S. § 850‑H (1), (2), (5)).
ME PFML benefits currently will be available starting May 1, 2026. However, due to a high volume of employers electing to establish private plans instead of participating in the state program, the ME PFML is reportedly underfunded. As a result, the Maine Department of Labor has indicated that the start date for benefit availability may be postponed.
III. New Hampshire: New Nursing Break Requirements
Effective July 1, 2025, employers with six or more employees must provide nursing employees with 30-minute unpaid lactation breaks for every three hours of work for up to one year after the birth of a child. The lactation breaks must be provided, regardless of the nursing employee’s classification or whether the break overlaps with regular rest periods. These breaks are for the purpose of “express[ing] breast milk,” which is defined as “the initiation of lactation by manual or mechanical means but shall not include breastfeeding.” NH Rev. Stat § 275:78. The law allows the break to be taken concurrently with any other break the employer already provides. For example, if the employee has a scheduled meal or rest break, the lactation break can run concurrently.
Employers must provide a private space for nursing, other than a bathroom. The space must be within a reasonable walk of the employee’s worksite, unless otherwise mutually agreed, shielded from view, and free from intrusion. The space can be either temporary or permanent, but it must be clean, functional, and equipped with seating and an electrical outlet. The law requires employers to provide notice at the time of hire to all employees of the employer’s lactation break policy. It also requires nursing employees to provide two weeks’ advance notice before using the accommodation. This allows employers time to make the necessary arrangements.
Employers may be exempt from this obligation if they can demonstrate that providing the accommodation imposes “undue hardship”, defined as “significant difficulty or expense when considered in relation to factors such as the size of the business, its financial resources, and the nature and structure of its operation.” Id.
IV. Vermont: Pay Transparency Law
Vermont’s Act Relating to Disclosure of Compensation in Job Advertisements (Act 155) became effective July 1, 2025. Act 155 requires employers with five or more employees and with at least one employee who works in Vermont to include a job’s salary or range of compensation in their job postings. Advertisements for jobs that are primarily compensated on a commission basis must state that the job is commission-based but need not include a salary or an expected compensation range. Further, employers are now required to identify tip-compensated positions as such and include the applicable base wage or range of base wages in job postings.
Vermont’s new pay transparency law is exclusively enforced by the Vermont Attorney General, whose Civil Rights Unit currently enforces Vermont laws on equal pay and fair employment. According to the Attorney General, disclosing the “range of compensation” means disclosing “the minimum and maximum annual salary or hourly wage that the employer, acting in good faith, expects to pay for the advertised job at the time it creates the ad.” See Final Version of H 704 Guidance (12-31-24).pdf
The new legislation does not cover oral advertisements, general notices of employment opportunities (rather than specific job openings), or job openings for work performed outside Vermont. However, it does apply to advertisements that describe a remote job calling for work that is predominantly performed either in a Vermont office or other Vermont work location. The ability of employers and workers to negotiate pay during the application or hiring process is also not limited by this act. It requires an employer to be transparent about the compensation or range of compensation for a job at the time that the advertisement is posted.
If you have questions about how these changes may affect your organization or need assistance updating your policies and procedures, our Employment Law and Human Resources team is ready to help. Please feel free to reach out to Katherine Brustowicz, Denise Chicoine, David Gabor, Johanna Matloff, or Virginia Peabody for guidance and support.