Here’s why readers want Mass. employers to list salaries on job listings
The Massachusetts House passed a bill that requires employers to disclose data about wages and post salary ranges on job listings.
What if you knew the salary of a job you’re applying to ahead of time? Under a new bill, job seekers could very soon see that come to fruition.
The Massachusetts House passed a bill (H 4109) on Oct. 4 that would require businesses with at least 25 employees to disclose data about wages and post salary ranges for job listings.
The bill is dubbed the Frances Perkins Workplace Equity Act to commemorate the Boston-born American workers-rights advocate who was the first woman to serve as U.S. labor secretary. It was pitched as pay equity legislation to target gender and racial wage gaps.
The bill, which passed 148-8, was dubbed the Frances Perkins Workplace Equity Act to commemorate the Boston-born American workers-rights advocate who was the first woman to serve as U.S. labor secretary. It was pitched as pay equity legislation to target gender and racial wage gaps by requiring employers with 100 or more full-time employees to produce wage data reports.
Readers agree that salary disclosure and transparency are a good thing, especially for women and people of color. We asked our readers if job postings should include a salary range or wage disclosure in the description, and the overwhelming majority (86%) of the 128 respondents to our poll said yes. Only 9% said no, and 5% said it depends.
Marky from Medford said he was surprised that Massachusetts, “typically a leader in progressive, employee-friendly legislation,” was behind other states, namely California, Connecticut, Colorado, Maryland, Nevada, New York, Rhode Island, and Washington – all of which have requirements in place to provide salary transparency to job seekers.
“What’s the delay?” Mark asked. “C’mon, legislators.”
If the bill is signed into law, employers will be required to submit wage data reports with workforce demographic and pay data by race, gender identity, and employment category to the state. The Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development would publish the aggregated wage data on an annual basis.
The bill must go through to the Senate for their consideration, would need the House and Senate approval, and then a signature by Gov. Maura Healey before it can become law. But it is already being heralded as a way forward for Massachusetts’ job seekers.
The bill was praised by the Massachusetts Caucus of Women Legislators, which included elevating women’s economic opportunities as a top priority for their 2023-2024 legislative session.
“This bill, which has the bipartisan support of our Caucus, represents the next step to ensure true equity — and competitiveness — in our workplaces,” caucus co-chairs Sen. Joan Lovely (D-Salem) and Rep. Hannah Kane (R-Shrewsbury) told WBUR in a statement.
According to the National Women’s Law Center, there are significant wage gaps for women and even larger gaps for women of color in Massachusetts, when compared to $1.00 earned by white, male workers in the state.
Women on average earn $0.81 for every $1.00 earned by a white, male worker; Asian American and Pacific Islander women earn $0.66; Native American women earn $0.59; Black women earn $0.57; and Latina women earn $0.51.
Mike G. from Hyde Park pointed out that providing salary transparency in job postings could be helpful for compensation, which he said “can be very arbitrary, and very biased without some form of checks and balances.”
Similarly, Matthew M. from Carver said, “Discrepancies between co-workers can be quite significant and unfair.”
One anonymous reader said they didn’t know how poorly they were being paid until they heard about Colorado’s law requiring wage disclosure, and decided to ask for an increase in his salary.
“I got a 25% raise – mic drop,” they said.
Read below to see what readers had to say about salary transparency and wage disclosure in Massachusetts.
Some responses have been lightly edited for clarity.
Should job postings include a salary range or wage disclosure?
‘Listing the salary range in a job description helps save time for both the job seeker and a recruiter’
“As a job hunter, I don’t want to waste time going through a lengthy application process if the job doesn’t have the salary range that I’m looking for. This would be a massive waste of time not just for myself but also for the company posting the job.” – Matthew
“I believe that listing the salary range in a job description helps save time for both the job seeker and a recruiter. I work in a job where the starting wages are transparent and that allows for a realistic expectation when someone joins the business. It increases competitiveness and it gives both the business and the employees a chance to grow and make adjustments.” – Roman C.
“People should know what their compensation will look like going into a job interview so no one wastes anyone’s time. It’ll save people applying to jobs they have no intention of working and from employers having to answer this question. It’ll also be beneficial to employers so they can see what other companies are offering and how they can either match or incentivize people to want to work with them.” – Jenny, Quincy
“If the salary is not in the range I’m looking for, I don’t want to waste my time and the future companies’ time going through the hiring process only to find out the salary is too low for me.” – Anne S., Walpole
“Wage range goes heavily into my decision if a job posting is worth following through with an application. I hate when I go through an interview process to find that the job is paying $25-35k below what I was making in a similar job previously. This happened multiple times during the last time I was seeking a new job.” – Wayne, Tewksbury
“I believe most people work to make money. It brings most people a feeling of security, happiness, and status. If companies provide a salary range for jobs it will quickly weed out many applicants, and give the company a more accurate idea if they are competitive in the market. However, in addition to the salary range, companies should also be required to provide a percentage of the employees in that job who are currently making various levels within that range. In other words, if the range is $80,000 to $100,000 and everyone in that position is making $90,000 or less than the range is bogus.” – Bill, Boston
‘[It] makes the process equitable and transparent’
“Transparency is key to fair pay and eliminating inequities. I’ve personally had experiences with jobs in MA within the past five years where employers offered lowball salaries compared to the going area rate and did this disproportionately to women. Coworkers and I didn’t figure out the discrepancy until people started breaking the company rules about not discussing wages. Wage information needs to be out there to give employees the ability to make an informed decision about whether they want to take an interview or not in the first place, and to give workers enough information to figure out if they’re being treated fairly once they do take a job.” – Anonymous reader
“It helps job seekers to get an idea of the pay. It also closes wage gaps for minorities and women. If nothing else it would eliminate candidates from applying if the wage is completely out of range.” – Tina, Braintree
“Makes the process equitable and transparent.” – Lulu, Brookline
“Employers should have to provide the actual salaries of employees that have the same job title and responsibilities. Providing actual salary information will make it more difficult for employers to discriminate based on gender, race, etc. Also, it will allow those individuals who are being discriminated against by being underpaid versus their peers to get the situation rectified.” – Vinca, Worcester County
“It encourages employers to treat people fairly.” – E.L., Methuen
‘I would reserve the right to keep salaries private’
“Companies below a certain size are somewhat irrelevant and too complex beyond a salary.” – Anonymous reader, Wellesley
“Exceptional candidates are worth more than average candidates and often require companies to rethink what they are willing to pay for a certain role. Salary ranges are often too narrow to account for the exceptional person. If the law states that you must post a range, you as a company, are intentionally being forced towards the mediocre candidates that have applied and fall within your posted range. Ranges are an acceptable practice for hourly jobs, I would reserve the right to keep salaries private for the exempt population.” – Jim, Methuen
“Professional salaries no, as many times the role gets refined by the skill set of the applicant, but general and trade salaries yes.” – Mike, Seacoast, N.H.
“This proposal is yet another effort to unnecessarily insert the government into private industry.” Peter, Newburyport
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