Just days before New York State’s pay transparency law went into effect, the state labor department unveiled new proposed regulations that seek to clarify employers’ obligations under the new law.
The New York state law requiring employers to disclose expected compensation ranges in advertisements for jobs, promotions, and transfers takes effect on September 17, 2023. The law requires employers with four or more employees to disclose the minimum and maximum annual salary or hourly wage in advertisements for jobs, promotions, and transfers, including in electronic job postings.
Illinois has joined the wave of jurisdictions passing pay transparency requirements. On August 11, 2023, Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker signed a bill into law that will require employers to include pay ranges in job postings beginning in 2025.
On August 7, 2023, the Illinois Department of Labor filed emergency rules and proposed permanent rules to implement House Bill 2862 (Public Act 103-0437), which amended the Day and Temporary Labor Services Act.
On August 5, 2023, New Jersey’s Temporary Workers Bill of Rights (TWBR) law takes full effect, bringing new obligations for temporary service firms and employers that utilize temporary workers. The State of New Jersey has indicated that it intends to enforce the new law in accordance with the proposed regulations unveiled on July 21, 2023.
Maine recently wrapped a busy 2023 legislative session that brought several significant legal changes relevant for employers. Those changes include increasing the cap on damages for violations of the Maine Human Rights Act (MHRA), expanding the protections of Maine Equal Pay Law to include race, amending the Workers’ Compensation Act to permit individual liability for sexual harassment and sexual assault, allowing non-tipped restaurant workers to participate in tip pools, and prohibiting employers from requiring veterinarians to enter into noncompete agreements.
On May 19, 2023, the Illinois General Assembly passed substantial amendments to the Day and Temporary Labor Services Act, 820 ILCS 175, through House Bill (HB) 2862. The amendments expand the rights of day and temporary workers and mandate increased safety oversight by both day and temporary labor service agencies and third-party clients that utilize such workers.
On May 24, 2023, Governor Tim Walz signed into law omnibus legislation that includes an amendment to Minnesota’s labor law that protects employees’ right to discuss the employees’ own wages. This amendment further defines the types of adverse action that an employer may not take against employees for exercising that right. The effective date of this amendment is July 1, 2023.
The pay transparency trend has reached Illinois. House Bill 3129 amends the Illinois Equal Pay Act of 2003 by requiring employers with at least fifteen employees to include the pay scale and benefits in any job posting by January 1, 2025.
Employers across the country have grappled with the requirements of Colorado’s Equal Pay for Equal Work Act (EPEWA), since it went into effect on January 1, 2021. The act was the only one of its kind at the time, and has spawned similar legislative efforts around the country, including in California, New York, and Washington. Yet the Centennial State has stood alone in its requirement that employers notify their Colorado employees of “promotional opportunities” available to them, no matter where those opportunities exist in the organization or whether those employees might be qualified for or interested in such jobs.
On May 4, 2023, Hawaii lawmakers sent a bill to the governor that would require employers to disclose hourly pay rates or salaries in job listings and expand pay discrimination protections—which could make the Aloha State the latest state to enact a pay transparency law.
The UK government recently published guidance for employers on pay gap reporting to address pay disparities between white employees and ethnic minority employees.
On 30 March 2023, Members of the European Parliament voted to endorse an amended version of new European Union (EU) Pay Transparency Directive first proposed in 2021. The proposal sets out significant increases to employers’ pay transparency obligations in EU jurisdictions.
Canadian employers in federally regulated industries (which include industries such as telecommunications, air/rail travel, and banking, among others) may want to note a number of recent and upcoming changes that will impact their workplaces.
Consideration of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues is becoming increasingly important for companies when conducting business and in dealings with investors and employees. The increased emphasis on ESG poses unique and difficult challenges for companies that can have a direct impact on their financial performance and broader perception as responsible corporate citizens.
On April 14, 2023, the California Civil Rights Department (CRD) announced that it will consider providing employers two-month extensions on the upcoming May 10, 2023, deadline to comply with the state’s new pay data reporting obligations regarding workers supplied by labor contractors.
The California Civil Rights Department (CRD) recently issued new guidance confirming that private colleges and universities and labor contractors are subject to the newly expanded pay data reporting obligations added as part of the state’s pay transparency law, Senate Bill (SB) 1162, enacted in September 2022. The state has set up an online portal to submit 2022 pay data reports, which are due on May 10, 2023.
With states and municipalities across the country enacting pay transparency laws, a bill was recently introduced in Congress that would require disclosure of pay ranges nationwide to address concerns with pay equity. On March 14, 2023, United States Representative Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) introduced the “Salary Transparency Act,” or H.R. 1599, which would amend the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) to require covered employers to disclose the “wage range” for open positions in job postings made publicly and internally.
With the September 17, 2023 effective date for New York’s new pay range disclosure requirements approaching, state lawmakers recently amended the law to clarify the scope of remote jobs to which the law applies and to relieve certain information retention requirements for employers. On March 3, 2023, New York governor Kathy Hochul signed Senate Bill S1326, amending the new pay transparency law that will require employers to disclose minimum and maximum annual salaries or hourly wages in advertisements for jobs, internal promotions, or transfer opportunities.
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has expressed a renewed intention to enforce federal laws prohibiting discrimination in pay amid a reported persistent “pay gap” between women and men in the United States workforce. The effort comes as “Equal Pay Day” is being recognized in the United States on Tuesday, March 14, 2023, a date that is meant to symbolize how far into the next year women reportedly must work to earn what their male counterparts made in the previous year. Given these events, here are some action items that employers may want to consider.
A recent decision of the German Federal Labor Court considerably restricts the objective, gender-neutral criteria that can justify different pay for the same work or equal work. Negotiating skills are now ruled out as a justification for a higher salary. However, differences in qualifications or professional experience continue to be recognized as objective criteria that may justify a compensation differential.
Massachusetts employers should keep an eye on a flurry of proposed legislation recently filed in both the state House of Representatives and Senate. One bill would impose new pay transparency obligations on Massachusetts employers. Another would require Massachusetts employers to report pay data to state regulators and create reporting obligations that go beyond similar obligations in place in other states.
On February 2, 2023, the New York City Council introduced a bill (Int. No. 907) that proposes changes to Local Law 32, New York City’s current salary disclosure law, which became effective on November 1, 2022.
The California Civil Rights Division (CRD) recently released updated guidance in the form of frequently asked questions (FAQs) for the 2022 California pay data reports, which covered employers must submit via the CRD’s pay data portal by May 10, 2023.
Employers in Albany County, New York, will soon be required to disclose expected pay ranges in job postings under a new pay transparency law. The law, which is expected to go into effect on March 9, 2023, adds Albany County to the growing list of jurisdictions across New York State with similar pay transparency requirements.
Connecticut employers have seen a significant increase in legislation affecting their businesses over the last few years. The Connecticut General Assembly does not show any signs of slowing down. A slew of labor and employment bills have been proposed in the 2023 legislative session.
Connecticut recently proposed legislation (Proposed H.B. No. 5243) that would “require employers to disclose salary ranges in all job postings.” In 2021, Connecticut was one of the first states to enact a pay transparency law requiring employers to disclose to applicants and employees the salary ranges for their positions. The proposed legislation would expand the existing law.
Employers posting jobs to be filled in California must now include a pay range in the posting under new requirements that took effect at the beginning of 2023. Senate Bill (SB) 1162, which was signed by Governor Gavin Newsom in September 2022, seeks to address racial and gender pay disparities by requiring employers to post pay ranges in job postings and expanding employers’ pay data reporting obligations with the California Civil Rights Department (CRD). In December 2022, the California Department of Industrial Relations (DIR) released updated guidance for employers regarding the compliance with the new pay transparency obligations.
California recently enacted a landmark pay transparency law that requires employers to disclose pay ranges in job postings, joining a growing number of states and municipalities that impose such requirements aimed at improving pay equity. But beyond the pay scale requirements, Senate Bill (SB) 1162, signed in September 2022 by Governor Gavin Newsom, further broke new ground in expanding pay data reporting processes and requirements for California employers, and thus increasing employers’ compliance burden.
On December 21, 2022, New York Governor Kathy Hochul signed Senate Bill S9427A into law, six months after the New York State Legislature passed the pay disclosure bill. The law takes effect on September 17, 2023.
