Recently, a wave of states and local jurisdictions, including California, Colorado, New York and Washington, have passed pay transparency laws with varied requirements for employers. In addition, a significant number of other jurisdictions, including Kentucky, Massachusetts, Missouri and South Carolina, have introduced pay transparency legislation that may result in additional obligations for employers.

The goal of the various pay transparency laws is to promote equal pay by requiring employers to disclose the pay range for positions in job postings. By requiring such transparency, employers, in theory, will be precluded from paying employees—in protected categories such as age, gender and race—wage rates that are less than the rates paid to employees outside of the protected classes for substantially similar work.