As of last month, a new law in New York state requires most companies to include salary ranges in all job postings. The same thing is true in a handful of other states, including California, where a similar law took effect at the beginning of this year.
The laws are aimed at reducing wage gaps, particularly for women and people of color. They’re also aimed at creating transparency in the workplace. But not every workplace seems to want transparency. Four software developers who were fired from a Vermont company found that out the hard way.
One of them was Kestrel Swift. He worked as a developer at Vermont Information Processing, which makes digital tools for the beverage industry. Every time he brought up the issue of pay transparency with his manager over the years, Swift said he was shot down.
“The communication was always just like, ‘Yeah, I just don’t think upper management is gonna go for that,’” Swift said.
It’s been perfectly legal for most workers to discuss their compensation since the 1930s, thanks to the National Labor Relations Act. However, it’s only recently they’ve felt comfortable doing that, said Aaron Terrazas, chief economist at Glassdoor.
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