Pay Disclosure Laws: States’ Push to Make Compensation Transparent and Equal

Pay is often the first thing many job seekers want to know about a position. This information, however, has been historically excluded from job postings. Until now. Employers are increasingly disclosing expected pay information to prospective employees in job postings and to current employees for promotional opportunities. Some employers are doing so by choice. Others are now required by law to do so. The economic aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic and 2020 racial justice movement was a catalyst for states to pass pay disclosure laws. These laws’ purposes are to increase pay transparency within labor markets to remove informational barriers for job seekers and reduce gender and racial pay inequities. This Note analyzes the recent legislation passed by fourteen states and the District of Columbia and proposes why—and how—more states should write pay disclosure laws.