In the two years since Colorado became the first state to require compensation information in job postings, a growing number of pay transparency laws have been enacted in states and cities across the country.
On Jan. 1, similar laws took effect in three states—California, Rhode Island, and Washington—bringing the number of states that currently require compensation disclosures in the hiring process to seven. New York is set to join that group later this year.
Of the three laws that took effect in the New Year, California’s will affect the most businesses and job applicants. The state poised to become the world’s fourth largest economy now requires employers to include hourly or salary ranges in job postings.
Similarly, Washington state’s new law requires employers to include pay ranges in job postings. But unlike employers in California, Washington employers must also include information about benefits and compensation in addition to base pay.
Rhode Island’s new law doesn’t require compensation disclosures in job postings, but does require employers to provide ranges later in the application process. Applicants and employees are also entitled to this information upon request.
Finally, New York state’s law will take effect this fall after Gov. Kathy Hochul signed a pay transparency bill last December. Like California and Washington, New York will require job postings to include pay ranges. On top of the new state law, a similar pay transparency law took effect in New York City last November.
The growing number of jurisdictions with pay transparency laws pressures multi-state businesses to publicize compensation ranges for all US-based jobs. And some legal analysts are predicting that even more pay transparency laws are on the horizon. If disclosing pay ranges to job applicants becomes the norm, the list above might be a lot longer in just a year or two.
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