Employers affected: All employers
Employers must provide the pay range for a given position to job applicants upon request after an applicant has completed an initial interview with the employer.
A new front has emerged in state and local governments’ attempts to address pay inequity.
Published May 13, 2022 - HR Dive
A new front has emerged in state and local governments’ attempts to address pay inequity. Once an addendum to broader laws restricting the ability of employers to ask about pay during the hiring process, pay disclosure requirements have now become full-fledged, targeted pieces of legislation in a growing number of jurisdictions.
Pay disclosure laws have taken several forms. Some require employers to provide the minimum and maximum pay, or a pay range, for a given job upon the request of an applicant. Others mandate this practice without requiring candidates to ask first. The latest wave of laws now require employers to include this information in all applicable job postings.
Here, we track the states, cities and other jurisdictions that have passed such laws, and offer a brief description of each law’s requirements, its effective date and a link to the original law.
Readers may sort through the laws using the field on the left side of this page. The categories by which readers may sort include state name, the area of jurisdiction (statewide vs. locality only) and the disclosure requirements of each law.
Employers affected: All employers
Employers must provide the pay range for a given position to job applicants upon request after an applicant has completed an initial interview with the employer.
Employers affected: All employers
Employers must disclose hourly or salary compensation, or a range of hourly or salary compensation, and a general description of all of the benefits and other compensation in all job postings, including but not limited to promotions.
A posted compensation range may extend from the lowest to the highest pay the employer in good faith believes it might pay for the particular job, depending on the circumstances. An employer may ultimately pay more or less than the posted range, if the posted range was the employer’s good-faith and reasonable estimate of the range of possible compensation at the time of the posting.
Employers affected: All employers
Employers must provide the pay range for a given position to job applicants by the earliest of the following dates: upon the applicant’s request, or either prior to or at the time of an offer being extended to the applicant.
Employers also must provide the pay range for an employee’s position upon the employee's hiring, a change in the employee’s position or an employee’s request for a pay range.
Employers affected: All employers
Employers must provide the wage range for a given position to job applicants upon request.
Employers affected: All employers
Employers must provide the pay range or rate for a given position to job applicants who have completed an interview for a position. They also must provide a pay range or rate to employees who have applied for a promotion or transfer; completed an interview for promotion or transfer and have been offered the promotion or transfer; and requested the pay range or rate for the promotion or transfer.
Employers affected: All employers in the city with four or more employees
Employers must disclose the minimum and maximum salary or hourly wage for each job, promotion or transfer opportunity. The range may extend from the lowest to the highest salary or hourly wage the employer in good faith believes at the time of the posting it would pay. The law does not cover jobs that cannot or will not be performed, at least in part, in the city.
New York City’s law was originally set to take effect April 28, 2022, but the City Council passed and Mayor Eric Adams signed an amended version that delayed the effective date and made additional clarifications to some of the law’s provisions.
Employers affected: All employers located within the city with 15 or more employees, including referral and employment agencies. Does not include any local, state or federal government except for the city.
Employers must provide the wage range for a given position to job applicants upon reasonable request, provided the applicant has been given a conditional offer of employment for the position.
Employers affected: All employers located within the city with 15 or more employees, including referral and employment agencies. Does not include any local, state or federal government except for the city.
Employers must provide the wage range for a given position to job applicants.
Employers affected: All employers
Employers must provide the pay range or rate for a given position to job applicants upon request. This should be done prior to discussing compensation. Employers must provide the pay range both at the time of the employee’s hire and when the employee moves into the new position. Employers also must provide a pay range for an employee’s position upon request throughout the course of employment.
Employers affected: All employers in the state with 15 or more employees
Employers must disclose in each posting the wage scale or salary range and a general description of all of the benefits and other compensation to be offered to the hired applicant.