For the past week, I have been glued to the TV watching the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics. I am a big advocate for Snoop Dogg as Team USA’s unofficial ambassador. And while I was already hooked on watching Team USA in gymnastics and swimming, I am now a new fan of Team USA’s Women’s Rugby too. In fact, 53 percent of Team USA is comprised of women this year, and it is the first Olympic games to reach gender parity.
While it is an exciting time to be a Team USA fan, it is a less exciting time to be a legislative nerd. Despite the summer slowdown in legislative sessions, we did have some big news coming out of Massachusetts this month.
Massachusetts
On July 31, 2024, Governor Maura Healey signed Massachusetts’ pay transparency bill into law, making Massachusetts the eleventh state to pass a pay transparency bill.
Beginning July 31, 2025, employers with 25 or more employees in Massachusetts will be required to post the annual salary or hourly wage that the employer “reasonably and in good faith” expects to pay for a role at the time of posting. Like many of the other pay transparency laws enacted, this will apply to job postings through a third party as well. Employers will also be required to provide the pay range to any employee who is offered a promotion, transfer, or another internal role. Finally, employers will be required to provide the pay range to employees holding that role, if requested.
Employers who fail to comply will be subject to penalties: a warning for a first violation, up to $500 for a second violation, and up to $1,000 for a third violation. Further violations may result in penalties between $7,500 and $25,000.
Additionally, employers with 100 or more employees will have until February 1, 2025, to share federal wage and workforce data reports with the Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development (EOLWD).
We are still keeping an eye on proposed pay transparency laws in the following states in 2024:
- Maine
- Michigan
- New Jersey
- Pennsylvania
- Wisconsin
Payscale will be closely following the progress of these bills.
