LaborSpeak: Two Minute Update on Pay Transparency Requirements

February 05, 2024

Reading Time : 1 min

In this installment of LaborSpeak, we discuss the growing list of states and localities that have implemented pay transparency requirements for employers.

For previous LaborSpeak videos on pay transparency legislation, please click here and here.

Full Transcript

The District of Columbia recently joined a growing list of states and localities that have implemented pay transparency requirements for employers. While the law must still undergo a 30-day review period, during which Congress may vote to overrule it, its slated effective date is June 30, 2024. 

On January 12, 2024, Washington D.C. Mayor Muriel Brown signed the Wage Transparency Omnibus Amendment Act of 2023. The new law will amend the D.C. Wage Transparency Act of 2014, requiring employers to include minimum and maximum salary or hourly pay information in all job advertisements or job postings, and to disclose the existence of healthcare benefits before a prospective employee's first interview.

In addition, under the new law, an employer may not prohibit an employee from inquiring about, disclosing, comparing, or otherwise discussing the employee's compensation or the compensation of another employee. “Compensation” is defined as “all forms of monetary and non-monetary benefits.” This is a significant change, as previously, this protection only extended to the discussion of “wages.” 

This law will also prohibit an employer from seeking the wage history of a prospective employee or screening prospective employees based on their wage history. “Employer” under the new law is defined as any individual or entity - excluding the D.C. and federal governments - that employs at least one employee in D.C. 

With this new law, D.C. joins a growing list of jurisdictions with requirements relating to pay transparency, including  alifornia, Colorado, Connecticut, Hawaii, Maryland, Nevada, New York, Rhode Island, Washington State, and parts of New Jersey and Ohio.

Although some details, including how many employees must be working in a jurisdiction for an employer to be covered and what constitutes “compensation” vary among these laws, we are seeing a trend in providing these protections. More is surely to come as well, since we already know that effective January 1, 2025, Illinois will require employers with 15 or more employees to include the pay scale and a general description of benefits in any job posting.

For more information on pay transparency legislation, take a look at our LaborSpeak videos from March 16 2023, and November 29, 2022. As always, if you have any questions, feel free to contact a member of our team.

Share This Insight

Previous Entries

LaborSpeak

November 7, 2024

In this installment of LaborSpeak, we discuss important updates to state laws that enhance protections for employees who are pregnant.

...

Read More

LaborSpeak

November 6, 2024

New York voters just passed Proposition One, also called the New York Equal Rights Amendment, expanding protections under the state constitution’s equal protection clause for public employers. The state constitution will now prohibit discrimination based on race, color, ethnicity, national origin, age, disability, creed, religion or sex—including sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, pregnancy, pregnancy outcomes and reproductive healthcare and autonomy.

...

Read More

LaborSpeak

September 10, 2024

In this installment of LaborSpeak, we discuss the details of the recent Texas federal court ruling setting aside the FTC’s nationwide non-compete ban and what may happen next.  

...

Read More

LaborSpeak

August 21, 2024

On August 20, the Northern District of Texas held that the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) rule banning non-competes was unlawful and set the rule aside on a nationwide basis.  As a result, the rule will not be enforced or take effect.

...

Read More

LaborSpeak

July 24, 2024

On July 23, a judge in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania denied a company’s motion to stay the September 4 effective date of and preliminarily enjoin the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) rule banning non-competes for almost all employees and independent contractors (the Rule).

...

Read More

LaborSpeak

July 8, 2024

On July 3, 2024, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas enjoined the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) from enforcing and implementing its rule banning non-competes and stayed the September 4 effective date of the rule against Ryan LLC, a tax services firm that sued the FTC over the rule. The court provided the same relief for several other parties that intervened in the case.

...

Read More

LaborSpeak

May 16, 2024

In this installment of LaborSpeak, we discuss a new state law affecting pay transparency and how it fits into the growing list of jurisdictions with similar requirements.

...

Read More

LaborSpeak

April 24, 2024

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has approved a final rule that would void and ban almost all worker non-compete agreements in the United States. However, the rule is already facing legal challenges and injunction efforts, with more likely to come, as critics question the FTC's legal authority to issue such a rule. In this installment of LaborSpeak, we provide a brief summary of the rule and discuss what employers need to know now.

...

Read More

© 2024 Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP. All rights reserved. Attorney advertising. This document is distributed for informational use only; it does not constitute legal advice and should not be used as such. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Akin is the practicing name of Akin Gump LLP, a New York limited liability partnership authorized and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority under number 267321. A list of the partners is available for inspection at Eighth Floor, Ten Bishops Square, London E1 6EG. For more information about Akin Gump LLP, Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP and other associated entities under which the Akin Gump network operates worldwide, please see our Legal Notices page.