Pay transparency laws are becoming increasingly common, and employers with workforces spread over multiple states are trying to figure out how to contend with a patchwork of similar — but not identical — provisions.
The latest effort to close systemic pay gaps based on gender or race, transparency laws typically require employers to include salary ranges on job postings, and to disclose pay ranges to applicants and current employees on demand, or both. But some laws go even further, requiring employers to detail the job duties or full panoply of benefits that come with a particular position.
Colorado’s first-in-the-nation pay transparency law took effect two years ago, while laws in California, Washington and Rhode Island were implemented on Jan. 1, 2023.
Meanwhile, New York City’s pay transparency law went into effect on Nov. 1 of last year, and a statewide law in New York will arrive in September.
A bill pending in the Massachusetts legislature would require “covered employers” to disclose the “pay range” — defined as the compensation that an employer “reasonably and in good faith expects to pay” — within the advertising or posting of positions and on demand to either applicants or employees being offered promotions or transfer. First-time offenders would be given a warning. A second offense would bring a $500 fine, and subsequent violations would expose an employer to more severe penalties.
When Colorado first passed its pay transparency law, some...
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