COMP NEWS – More than a dozen states have launched various pay transparency laws, which have mandated the disclosure of pay scales.

A dozen states have enacted pay transparency laws, which require employers to be more open about wages and benefits. Those laws will require employers to disclose wages in new job postings, while some of the laws will also bar employers from asking a job candidate about their salary history.

 

Currently, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Hawaii, Maryland, Nevada, and Washington State have statewide laws in effect, with New Jersey and Ohio having local laws in place that require pay transparency. New York has both local and statewide laws, while Illinois, Minnesota, and Washington, D.C. have passed laws that have yet to go into effect.

 

The laws have so far taken varying approaches to ensure transparency, with some requiring employers to disclose the salary ranges for open positions, prohibiting retaliation against employees who discuss their salaries with others, or even requiring employers to report salary data to government agencies. As these laws are at the state and local level, there are already sharp contrasts.

 

For example, it has been reported that California’s pay transparency laws may require companies with at least 15 employees to post salaries for all open positions – but Colorado requires that all companies, even those with one employee, must disclose the salary. Hawaii’s new pay transparency law, which took effect in January, has called for job listings to include hourly rates as well as salary range.

To read more about the impact of pay transparency laws, click here.

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