Wage transparency laws are getting more and more popular, and employers should expect this trend to continue. These laws are designed to correct the gender pay gap and, generally, require an employer to publish the salary range for the job position being advertised.
For example, Washington and New York City recently joined Colorado in requiring wage transparency. Washington now requires that employers disclose in each job posting the wage scale or salary range, and a general description of all of the benefits and other compensation to be offered. This law goes into effect on January 1, 2023 and applies to employers with fifteen or more employees.
Similarly, New York City now requires that employers advertising jobs include a “good faith” salary range for every job, promotion, and transfer opportunity advertised. “Good faith” means the salary range the employer honestly believes at the time it is listing the job advertisement that it is willing to pay the applicant. Unlike Washington, however, employers in New York City do not have to list the benefits offered in the position as “salary” does not include other forms of compensation or benefits offered such as insurance, paid time off, bonuses, or commissions. This law applies to employers with four or more employees and covered employers must begin posting salary ranges on May 15, 2022.
We can reasonably expect that these wage transparency laws will be implemented in more states and cities across the country. As such, employers should start to consider how they will comply with a wage transparency law. Employers should also analyze their pay and wage date to determine if there are any wage gaps that will come to light if a wage transparency law were implemented. If so, an employer may want to correct – or start correcting – such wage gaps. At a minimum, this is good for employee relations and may save time and energy in the future.