By: Laura M. Raisty and Michelle M. De Oliveira

On July 31, 2024, Governor Maura Healey signed into law An Act Relative To Salary Range Transparency, making Massachusetts the twelfth state to pass a pay transparency law. The law requires covered employers to provide pay ranges in job postings and pay information directly to employees and applicants upon request. Moreover, employers already subject to federal EEO disclosures will be required to submit demographic and pay data to the Secretary of the Commonwealth (“Secretary”), who will then provide the data to the Massachusetts Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development for publication. Businesses that employ 25 or more employees should closely review the newly imposed requirements, discussed below, to ensure compliance.

A. Pay Range Disclosure Requirements As Of July 31, 2025.

Starting on July 31, 2025, employers with 25 or more employees in Massachusetts must:

  • Disclose the pay range for a particular position in all job postings;
  • Provide the pay range for a particular position to an employee who is offered a promotion, transfer, or a new position with different job responsibilities; and
  • Provide the pay range for a particular position to an employee holding that position or to an applicant for that position upon request.

A “job posting” is “any advertisement or job posting intended to recruit job applicants for a particular and specific employment position, including, but not limited to, recruitment done directly by a covered employer or indirectly through a third party.” “Pay range” is defined 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.”

B. Pay Data Reporting Requirements For Employers With 100+ Employees As Of February 1, 2025.

In addition, employers that have 100 or more employees in Massachusetts and are already subject to federal EEO disclosure requirements (EEO-1, EEO-3, EEO-4, or EEO-5) will be required to provide the applicable EEO forms to the Secretary. The form must include workforce demographic and pay data categorized by race, ethnicity, sex, and job category.

The deadlines for such required pay reporting requirements are as follows:

  • February 1, 2025: The first EEO-1, EEO-3 and EEO-5 reports are due to the Secretary. Thereafter, EEO-1 reports will be due to the Secretary annually by February 1st—and EEO-3 and EEO-5 reports are due to the Secretary in each odd numbered year by February 1st.
  • February 1, 2026: The first EEO-4 report is due to the Secretary. Thereafter, EEO-4 reports will be due to the Secretary in each even numbered year by February 1st.

The Secretary will be required to submit the aggregate data to the Massachusetts Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development annually by April 1st.

Then, the Massachusetts Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development will be required to publish the aggregate and workforce data reports annually on its website no later than July 1st. The published data will be separated by industry (e.g., construction, manufacturing, retail trade, etc.).

According to the law, the Secretary may establish a “web portal, sample email submission or paper form” that covered employers will be able to use to submit their wage data reports. On a positive note, wage data reports will not be considered “public records” subject to public records requests and disclosures.

C. Anti-Retaliation Protections.

In addition to the reporting and disclosure requirements, the pay transparency law has built-in protections that make it unlawful for a covered employer to discharge, or in any other manner retaliate or discriminate against, an employee or applicant who has:

  • taken action to enforce their rights under the law;
  • made a complaint to their employer, the employer’s agent, or the Massachusetts Attorney General regarding an alleged violation of the law;
  • instituted a proceeding under the law; or
  • testified or is about to testify in any such proceeding.

While not explicitly stated, it appears that employees may have a private right of action for allegations of discrimination or retaliation under the law.

D. Enforcement.

The Massachusetts Attorney General is tasked with enforcement and may issue the following penalties to employers that fail to comply with the pay range disclosure or reporting requirements:

  • a warning for a first offense;
  • a fine of no more than $500 for a second offense;
  • a fine of no more than $1,000 for a third offense; and
  • fines of between $7,500 to $25,000 for a fourth and subsequent offenses.

For a period of two years after the effective dates of the disclosure and posting requirements, an employer will have two business days after notice of a violation to cure any defect before a fine is imposed. Violations are not, however, subject to treble damages under the Massachusetts Wage Act.

E. Next Steps.

Moving forward, employers will have approximately one year to prepare for the required pay range disclosures. However, reporting requirements (for those employers subject to them) start as early as February 2025. Accordingly, employers should consider planning for the changes sooner rather than later. Here is how:

  • Employers with fewer than 25 employees: The pay transparency law does not apply, and therefore, no planning is needed. That said, employers should note to revisit these requirements if/when they reach the 25-employee threshold.
  • Employers with 25 or more employees: Consider how to best prepare for the required changes with respect to pay range disclosures, including, among other things, fully assessing pay ranges for their positions, and how to best update job postings and respond to employee and applicant pay inquiries starting on July 31, 2025.
  • Employers with 100 or more employees: Ensure that they are prepared to submit their EEO reports to the Secretary in accordance with the established deadlines and remain informed of available forms and forums via which the information may be submitted.

Employers should also consider performing an internal audit in relation to their current pay ranges for positions within the organization and developing a consistent and defensible approach to setting pay ranges for all positions—especially given the strict parameters of the Massachusetts Equal Pay Act.

Our team is prepared to help employers and employees navigate these issues and will continue to monitor developments relating to Massachusetts’ newly enacted pay transparency law. Those with questions or specific concerns are encouraged to contact an employment attorney at Kenney & Sams.

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