Pay Transparency Laws Bring Compliance Questions, Mixed Results

As more and more pay transparency laws go into effect around the country, pay range disclosure requirements have generated a variety of different company responses, with some companies opting to comply by posting ranges where the minimum and maximum salaries are more than $200,000 apart. 

 NYC law goes into effect: Colorado became the first jurisdiction to require employers to provide salary ranges in job postings, and has since been followed by New York City, Washington, and California (New York state passed a similar law that is currently awaiting the governor’s signature). With the NYC law now in effect, a much larger swath of the employer community is subject to these salary range posting requirements. 

The initial results have been a mixed bag from the employer perspective, with differing approaches to both the range of salary posted and whether to post ranges nationwide or just for the jurisdictions where it is required. Some companies, for example, have posted jobs to be performed in NYC with salary ranges spanning nearly $200,000, while others kept ranges between 80% to 120% of the midpoint. Under the NYC law, as in Colorado, companies can be penalized for posting “unrealistic” salary ranges. 

Meanwhile, employers are also facing the decision of whether to adopt a uniform, nationwide approach to salary range posting, or simply approach the issue piecemeal for each required jurisdiction. Airbnb, for example, provides salary ranges in all of its job postings, regardless of legal requirements, and many other companies are planning to follow, though it is still a minority practice.

HR Policy webinar: The proliferation of state and local pay transparency laws has raised a number of questions regarding compliance, potential impacts on recruiting and retention, and employee relations in general. To answer these questions and more, HR Policy will be hosting a webinar on December 13 at 12 EST. More information and registration details can be found here.