Pay Transparency Laws
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Current Pay Transparency Laws
Many states and municipalities have adopted pay transparency laws to protect workers’ rights and hold businesses accountable for failing to meet requirements.
The list of states is growing but there is still resistance to creating fair and equitable salary standards.
Recently the Virginia legislature passed a pay transparency law that was vetoed by Gov. Yonngkin.
What Do These Laws Mean for Businesses?
The answer depends on where your business is located and if you have remote workers in another state or municipality.
The California law applies to businesses with fifteen or more employees, but different cities/town within the state have different numbers. The same is true in New Jersey where the state law that takes effect on 06/01/2025 applies to businesses with ten or more employees, but the Jersey City law is applicable to businesses with only five employees.
See here for an overview of current state laws.
Failure to adhere to the law can lead to substantial fines or lawsuits by applicants.
If you think your business is too small to garner the attention of state regulators – think again.
Here’s a random sample of comments put in the chat to a webinar I recently attended.
Rather than notifying businesses that their postings don’t meet the law, some people are gleefully reporting them to the appropriate authority.
Leave it to the Experts
I recently checked two businesses that I frequent because I suspected there might be compliances issues.
With main locations in NYC and additional locations elsewhere, both businesses are currently in violation of NYC pay transparency laws and as of June 1 will also be in violation of New Jersey as well as Jersey City labor laws. I emailed and called them to notify each of the noncompliance.
This likely is due to businesses bundling their payroll/HR with other services essential to business operations, e.g., POS. Payroll is merely an add-on service not the primary focus of the provider.
Following the Keep It Simple Stupid philosophy to streamline software and services makes sense in certain instances, but can be costly in others. Business owners should use a payroll/HR provider focused on these business-critical functions.
How Can Business Keep Track of Pay Transparency Laws?
Using a payroll and HR provider that not only has a proven track record of providing contracted services but also offers up-to-date education on federal, state, and local legislative changes and industry trends.
For Teshley Solutions LLC that company is ADP.
ADP continually holds webinars, send newsletters and hosts podcasts that are loaded with information that businesses small and large need.
In addition, unlike other service providers we initially contacted ADP has live customer service representatives available to answer questions and resolve problems.
Use the referral QR code to have someone from ADP contact you to explore your options.
Businesses that sign with ADP also have the opportunity to earn referral bonuses and a year of free payroll.
What Job Seekers Should Know
In addition to having provisions about publishing pay ranges in job postings or in early stages of the application process, salary history questions are also prohibited in most cases.
Job seekers should research read, and understand the laws for any positions they’re seeking.
It is the law where you perform the work that usually applies.
If you are working remotely for a company located in a state without a transparency law but live in a jurisdiction that has one, your local laws will likely be applicable.
Check the full legislation with your state Department of Labor and local town code, if applicable.
Conclusion
Businesses and workers need to stay informed about the every-changing labor laws. Failure to do so will put you at a disadvantage.
