In this installment of LaborSpeak, we discuss the growing list of states and localities that have implemented pay transparency requirements for employers.
For previous LaborSpeak videos on pay transparency legislation, please click here and here.
LaborSpeak: Two Minute Update on Pay Transparency Requirements
February 05, 2024
Reading Time : 1 min
Full Transcript
The District of Columbia recently joined a growing list of states and localities that have implemented pay transparency requirements for employers. While the law must still undergo a 30-day review period, during which Congress may vote to overrule it, its slated effective date is June 30, 2024.
On January 12, 2024, Washington D.C. Mayor Muriel Brown signed the Wage Transparency Omnibus Amendment Act of 2023. The new law will amend the D.C. Wage Transparency Act of 2014, requiring employers to include minimum and maximum salary or hourly pay information in all job advertisements or job postings, and to disclose the existence of healthcare benefits before a prospective employee's first interview.
In addition, under the new law, an employer may not prohibit an employee from inquiring about, disclosing, comparing, or otherwise discussing the employee's compensation or the compensation of another employee. “Compensation” is defined as “all forms of monetary and non-monetary benefits.” This is a significant change, as previously, this protection only extended to the discussion of “wages.”
This law will also prohibit an employer from seeking the wage history of a prospective employee or screening prospective employees based on their wage history. “Employer” under the new law is defined as any individual or entity - excluding the D.C. and federal governments - that employs at least one employee in D.C.
With this new law, D.C. joins a growing list of jurisdictions with requirements relating to pay transparency, including alifornia, Colorado, Connecticut, Hawaii, Maryland, Nevada, New York, Rhode Island, Washington State, and parts of New Jersey and Ohio.
Although some details, including how many employees must be working in a jurisdiction for an employer to be covered and what constitutes “compensation” vary among these laws, we are seeing a trend in providing these protections. More is surely to come as well, since we already know that effective January 1, 2025, Illinois will require employers with 15 or more employees to include the pay scale and a general description of benefits in any job posting.
For more information on pay transparency legislation, take a look at our LaborSpeak videos from March 16 2023, and November 29, 2022. As always, if you have any questions, feel free to contact a member of our team.
Full Transcript
The District of Columbia recently joined a growing list of states and localities that have implemented pay transparency requirements for employers. While the law must still undergo a 30-day review period, during which Congress may vote to overrule it, its slated effective date is June 30, 2024.
On January 12, 2024, Washington D.C. Mayor Muriel Brown signed the Wage Transparency Omnibus Amendment Act of 2023. The new law will amend the D.C. Wage Transparency Act of 2014, requiring employers to include minimum and maximum salary or hourly pay information in all job advertisements or job postings, and to disclose the existence of healthcare benefits before a prospective employee's first interview.
In addition, under the new law, an employer may not prohibit an employee from inquiring about, disclosing, comparing, or otherwise discussing the employee's compensation or the compensation of another employee. “Compensation” is defined as “all forms of monetary and non-monetary benefits.” This is a significant change, as previously, this protection only extended to the discussion of “wages.”
This law will also prohibit an employer from seeking the wage history of a prospective employee or screening prospective employees based on their wage history. “Employer” under the new law is defined as any individual or entity - excluding the D.C. and federal governments - that employs at least one employee in D.C.
With this new law, D.C. joins a growing list of jurisdictions with requirements relating to pay transparency, including alifornia, Colorado, Connecticut, Hawaii, Maryland, Nevada, New York, Rhode Island, Washington State, and parts of New Jersey and Ohio.
Although some details, including how many employees must be working in a jurisdiction for an employer to be covered and what constitutes “compensation” vary among these laws, we are seeing a trend in providing these protections. More is surely to come as well, since we already know that effective January 1, 2025, Illinois will require employers with 15 or more employees to include the pay scale and a general description of benefits in any job posting.
For more information on pay transparency legislation, take a look at our LaborSpeak videos from March 16 2023, and November 29, 2022. As always, if you have any questions, feel free to contact a member of our team.
Previous Entries
LaborSpeak
January 30, 2025
All New York and California employers should be aware of some changes that prohibit employers from requiring employees to repay certain amounts in the event they leave employment prior to a set date. These are commonly known as “stay or pay” agreements. Both New York and California recently enacted laws regulating these types of agreements, though the laws currently differ in key ways.
LaborSpeak
December 9, 2025
New York City recently enacted changes to the Earned Safe and Sick Time Act that will impact how all private employers provide leave to employees. These amendments expand employee rights and will go into effect February 22, 2026.
LaborSpeak
December 2, 2025
On October 1, 2025, California amended its existing mini-WARN Act, imposing on employers, who are conducting a mass layoff, termination, or relocation of its workforce, an additional obligation to include specific information in their WARN notices.
LaborSpeak
October 8, 2025
For employers, the increasing number of pay transparency laws create a patchwork of additional requirements with which they must comply, and employers in Vermont, Massachusetts, Cleveland, and Delaware should be aware of recent and upcoming changes in this area.
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