A rising trend among states and localities is the enactment of pay transparency laws and salary history bans. Five (5) states (Illinois, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, and Vermont) and one (1) locality (Cleveland, Ohio) have enacted these laws this year alone (2025).
What are pay transparency laws? Pay transparency laws typically require employers to include a good faith salary range/wage rate in job postings. They may also require employers to disclose other benefits in the posting, such as availability of health insurance.
What are salary history bans? Salary history bans prohibit employers from asking applicants about their salary history from their past or current positions and from basing compensation offers on an applicant’s salary history. They also often protect employees from retaliation for disclosing/discussing wages.
Employers who do not have offices in states or localities that have these laws may think they do not need to comply with them. An important note, however, is that these laws often apply if the job posting is remote and can be performed remotely within one of the applicable states/localities. With the increase of remote/hybrid positions, it is important to be aware of these laws and the audience to whom open remote/hybrid positions will be advertised. Many pay transparency and salary history laws carry steep financial penalties that can compound with each violation.
Here is a list of the current state and localities with pay transparency laws:
STATES: California, Colorado, Connecticut, District of Columbia (D.C.), Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington
LOCALITIES: Jersey City (New Jersey), Albany County (New York), City of Ithaca (New York), New York City (New York), Westchester County (New York), Cleveland (Ohio), Cincinnati (Ohio), and Toledo (Ohio).
SALARY HISTORY BAN ONLY: Alabama, Delaware, Maine, Missouri (Kansas City only), New York (Suffolk County), Columbus (Ohio), Oregon, Lehigh County (Pennsylvania), and Philadelphia (Pennsylvania).
If you have any questions regarding pay transparency laws and salary history bans, contact SWB Law at (610)-710-4510.