Rep. Stanley, Massachusetts Legislature Passes Wage Equity Legislation
(BOSTON—8/13/2024) The Massachusetts Legislature took a strong step towards closing the gender and racial wage gap in the Commonwealth with passage of An Act relative to salary range transparency. The legislation requires employers with 25 or more employees to disclose a salary range when posting a position and protects an employee’s right to ask their employer for the salary range for their position when applying for a job or seeking a promotion.
When signed into law H.4890 would make Massachusetts the eleventh state to mandate pay transparency by requiring employers to disclose salary ranges, according to the National Women’s Law Center. H.4890 builds on the Legislature’s 2016 passage of the Massachusetts Equal Pay Act, which prohibited wage discrimination based on gender and brought long-sought fairness and equality to workplaces in the state.
“This legislation marks a significant advancement in our ongoing fight for wage equity in Massachusetts,” said Representative Thomas M. Stanley (D-Waltham). “By mandating salary transparency, we are empowering workers with the knowledge they need to negotiate fair pay, and we are sending a clear message that discrimination has no place in our Commonwealth. I’m proud to support this bill, which will help close the wage gaps that have persisted for far too long, particularly for women and people of color. Together, we are making Massachusetts a more just and equitable place for all.”
The bill requires employers with more than 100 employees to share their federal wage and workforce data reports with the Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development (EOLWD), which would then be responsible for compiling and publishing aggregated wage and workforce date to help identify gender and racial wage gaps by industry. The bill makes a necessary update, following the Equal Pay Act of 2016, to prevent earned wage adjustments from triggering the anti-spiking provision.
In Greater Boston, the 2023 gender wage gap was 21 cents, according to the Boston Women’s Workforce Council. This gap becomes more pronounced when comparing white men and women of color, where Black/African American women face a 54-cent wage gap, Hispanic/Latina women face a 52-cent wage gap, and Asian women face a 19-cent wage gap.
Governor Healey signed An Act relative to salary range transparency (now Chapter 141 of the Acts of 2024) on July 31, 2024.