About fourteen states currently have pay transparency laws, including Nevada and Colorado, where we focus our law practice. Numerous additional states are considering passing pay transparency laws. So, what is pay transparency and why should you care?
Pay transparency refers to openly sharing the salary or hourly wages for jobs. It is intended to give job applicants and current employees insight into an employer’s pay ranges for each job. This transparency is expected to help eliminate pay inequities and wage discrimination.
Although each state’s pay transparency law may differ, many such laws apply to all employers in the state regardless of size. Some of the states require disclosure of benefits, such as bonuses, insurance, etc. as well as wages. Organizations may need to include certain information in every job posting for both internal and external candidates.
What Employers Should Do
- Check whether the state(s) in which the employer operates has/have a pay discrepancy law.
- If subject to a pay discrepancy law, determine the pay and benefit ranges for open positions, including research into competitive salaries in the market.
- Update job postings to comply with the applicable pay transparency laws.
- Audit and adjust pay practices as needed, to stay compliant.
Remember too that the federal National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) protects employees’ rights to disclose and discuss their wages with their coworkers, the media, and the public. Be careful not to restrain employees from having wage discussions and do not have written policies that prohibit such discussions. And as always, make sure your frontline managers are trained on these pay transparency laws and NLRB prohibitions.
