On July 31, 2024, Governor Maura Healy signed into law, An Act Relative to Salary Range Transparency (H.4890) which requires certain employers to disclose salaries and submit wage data reports to the Commonwealth. The goal of this pay transparency legislation is to make workplaces in the Commonwealth more equitable for all employees. This legislation is a reinforcement mechanism to close wage gaps and buttress the 2016 Equal Pay Act. The reporting requirement in this act goes into effect on February 1, 2025 and the pay disclosure requirement goes into effect on July 1, 2025.
Pay Disclosure Requirements
This legislation requires both public and private employers with 25 or more employees to disclose (i) pay ranges in job postings, (ii) provide pay ranges to employees offered a promotion, transfer, or a new position with different responsibilities, and (iii) provide pay ranges to an employee or applicant in a specific position upon request. The act defines “pay range” as “the annual salary range or hourly wage range that the covered employer reasonably and in good faith expects to pay for such position at that time.” The act does not require disclosure of any other forms of compensation or benefits.
Employer Reporting Requirements
Additionally, this legislation states that public and private employers with 100 employees or more that are also subject to federal EEO-1 reporting, will now be subject to additional reporting obligations to the Commonwealth.[1] The reporting obligations include aggregated wage data by race, ethnicity, sex, and job category on an annual basis. Notably, unions and school systems with 100 or more employees are similarly required to submit aggregated wage data to the Commonwealth, though on a biannual basis.
Enforcement
This legislation will be enforced by the attorney general. Penalties for failure to comply range from a warning for an initial violation, $500 fine for a second violation, $1,000 fine for a third violation, and/or an enforcement action under Massachusetts General Laws, chapter 149, section 27C for subsequent violations.
For your convenience a complete copy of the Act Relative to Salary Range Transparency can be found here. Please contact us for guidance navigating the requirements of this new legislation.
[1] EEO-1 reporting is a mandatory annual data collection requirement of all private employers with 10 or more employees and federal contractors with 50 or more employees meeting specific criteria, to submit employment demographic data by job category including sex, race, and ethnicity, to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
