An increasing number of states and localities, including CA, CO, CT, DC (eff. 6/30/24), HI, IL (eff. 1/1/25), MD, NV, NY, RI, WA, have passed pay transparency laws requiring employers to include, among other information, good faith pay ranges for open positions in job postings.
Recent legal action popping up around the country reminds employers to make sure to include “good faith” pay range estimates in your job posts. In addition to cracking down on companies that have omitted wage ranges in their job postings all together, we are beginning to see enforcement agencies pursue companies that post overly wide wage ranges as well, alleging they are not “good faith” ranges.
For example, the New York City Commission recently filed enforcement actions against a major automobile retailer that posted a wage range of $22-$58 per hour for an open role, and against a major news corporation that posted open positions with wage ranges of $50,000-$180,000 and $40,000-$160,000 respectively. The Commission alleged that such wage ranges were not posted in “good faith” as the law requires. Washington state has also been particularly active in enforcing its pay transparency law.
Remember that in addition to wage ranges, certain pay transparency laws also require employers to include information about general benefits and other compensation available in their job postings. Make sure to comply with all state and local requirements when advertising for open positions. The enforcement agencies are watching.