Efforts to improve pay equity by making salary amounts less secretive also heighten the risk of pay discrimination lawsuits for employers, including businesses operating in California or New York where salary disclosure bills await the governors’ signatures.
Those California and New York bills, like an existing law in Colorado and others taking effect soon in New York City and Washington state, would require companies to include a salary amount or range in job ads.
The measures are aimed at combating the gender pay gap and other forms of pay discrimination. Women workers in the US are estimated to receive 80 cents for every dollar that men of similar educational levels get paid.
Publicizing the pay ranges for new positions will let a company’s current employees see how their salaries compare—possibly leading some to conclude they’re being underpaid, perhaps confronting their bosses or ultimately pursuing legal action.
Employment attorneys urge businesses to prepare by evaluating pay scales, making adjustments where needed, and identifying the legitimate business reasons for differing pay amounts.
“A job may have a similar title, but the pay difference may be based upon someone’s number of years of experience or perhaps there are different levels of a particular position, some that require different duties,” said Lisa E. Dayan, an employment lawyer with Davis...
On September 14, 2026, the Department of Justice announced that Accenture Federal Services, Accenture plc, and Accenture LLP agreed to pay $25 million to resolve False Claims Act allegations that ...