Pay transparency is defined as the degree to which employers are open about what, why, how, and how much employees are compensated. While the decision to disclose pay ranges is largely left to the employer, a growing number of states and cities have started implementing pay transparency laws requiring the disclosure of pay information to applicants.

Pay transparency stems from the Equal Pay Act of 1963, which generally requires men and women receive equal pay for equal work. This eventually evolved into salary history restriction laws that limited an employer’s ability to ask about a job applicant’s salary history as a way to decide compensation. Currently, there are 17 states that have salary history restrictions in place: Alabama, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island (effective January 1, 2023), Vermont, and Washington. Kansas City, Cincinnati, Toledo, Philadelphia, and Columbia (South Carolina) also have restrictions on if and when employers may inquire about an applicant’s salary history. In this latest trend of laws, pay transparency regulations promote transparency around pay practices as a method to avoid disparate treatment of employees.

While your company may not have a physical location in a certain area with pay transparency laws, hiring remote workers or even advertising for remote work in these states may subject you to that state or city’s pay transparency laws. Additionally, stating in job postings that applicants from certain states would not be considered as a way to circumnavigate this requirement may not be sufficient, as both Colorado and California’s Department of Labor offices have determined, and other states may follow suit. Because of this, it’s important to know what you may be required to disclose, whether during the interviewing process or even in your job posting, if hiring remote workers.

Below are the states and cities that currently have pay transparency laws in place or becoming effective in the near future:

California: Effective January 1, 2023, employers must provide the pay scale for a position to any applicant applying for employment upon request from an applicant. In cases of internal applications, employers must also provide the pay scale for the position in which an employee is currently employed upon request. Companies with 15 or more employees will be required to include the pay scale on job postings.

Colorado: Employers must provide the hourly/salary compensation or pay range on a job posting; a general description of any bonuses, commissions, or other forms of compensation; and a general description of all employment benefits offered for the position.

Connecticut: Employers must disclose the wage range for a position to an applicant for the position at the applicant's request or before making an offer of compensation, whichever is earlier. Employers must also provide a wage range for an employee’s position upon hiring, a change in the employee’s position, or at the employee’s first request for a wage range.

Maryland: Employers must provide the wage range for a position for which an applicant applied upon request.

Nevada: Employers must provide the wage or salary range or rate for a position to an applicant who has completed an interview for the position. The wage or salary range or rate must also be provided to an employee who has applied for a promotion or transfer upon request if the employee has completed an interview or been offered the position.

Rhode Island: Effective January 1, 2023, employers must provide an applicant with the wage range for the position for which the applicant is applying upon request and prior to discussing compensation. Employers must also provide an employee with the wage range for the employee’s position upon hire, when the employee moves into a new position, and upon an employee’s request during the course of employment.

Washington: Under certain circumstances, employers with 15 or more employees must provide pay scale or wage information to applicants and internal employees if requested. Effective January 1, 2023, employers with 15 or more employees must include pay scale or wage information in job postings along with a general description of all the benefits and other compensation associated with the position.

Cincinnati, Ohio: Upon reasonable request, employers must provide the pay scale for a position to an applicant applying for employment after the applicant has been provided with a conditional offer of employment.

Ithaca, New York: Employers with four or more employees whose standard work locations are in Ithaca must include minimum and maximum hourly or salary compensation in any advertisement for an opportunity for a job, promotion, or transfer.

Jersey City, New Jersey: Employers with five or more employees in Jersey City must include a minimum and maximum annual salary or hourly wage in any advertisement for an employment opportunity, promotion, or transfer, whether temporary or permanent.

New York City, New York: Effective November 1, 2022, an employer with four or more employees must include a good faith estimate of the pay range for a position in postings advertising a job, promotion or transfer opportunity.

Toledo, Ohio: Upon reasonable request, employers must provide the applicable pay scale to applicants who have received a conditional job offer.

Westchester County, New York: An employer with four or more employees must include the minimum and maximum salary in a posting for a position to be performed, in whole or in part, in Westchester County.