Pay Transparency Laws by State: What Job Posts Must Include

A candidate emails to say your job post breaks the law in their state because it has no pay range. That’s how a lot of small employers find out about pay transparency, usually on a remote role that “could be done from anywhere.” Below are the pay transparency laws by state in force as of October 2026, each checked on the state’s own pages.

Pay transparency laws by state: which ones are in force?

Short answer: As of October 2026, pay transparency laws in 14 states and Washington, D.C. require pay information in job postings. The states are California, Colorado, Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Vermont, Virginia and Washington State. The table links each state’s labor department page or statute. Virginia, Maine and Connecticut started in 2026.

The “who’s covered” column is the threshold for the posting rule. States that require pay only on request or after an interview are listed below the table.

If you’re filling a remote role that could touch several of these rows, our remote staffing recruiters quote each role in writing before any work starts.

A few details don’t fit in a table cell:

• California says the pay scale has to sit in the posting itself. The Labor Commissioner’s FAQ rules out a link to a separate document or a QR code.
• Colorado also wants every current employee told about each job opportunity on the same calendar day, before you pick someone. Illinois requires you to tell current employees about promotion opportunities within 14 calendar days after an external posting.
• New York’s labor department says the job description can be skipped only when the title alone conveys the full duties.
• D.C. doesn’t require a full benefits list in the ad; you have to tell candidates that healthcare benefits exist before the first interview.

States that require pay on request or after an interview

Two more states make you share pay, just not in the ad:

• Nevada (since 2021): an employer or employment agency must give the wage or salary range or rate to an applicant who has completed an interview, and to an employee who applies, interviews and asks about a promotion or transfer (NRS 613.133).
• Rhode Island (since January 1, 2023): an employer must give an applicant the wage range on request and should give it before discussing pay. Current employees get their range at hire, when they move to a new position and on request (R.I. Gen. Laws § 28-6-22).

That’s why some guides count more states than we do: their lists may also include on-request states like these, laws signed but not yet in force (such as Delaware’s) or states that only ban salary-history questions. Our count covers laws that require pay in the posting today, and we left out anything we couldn’t confirm on an official page.

This is a plain-English summary, not legal advice; have an employment lawyer review your posting template if you hire in several of these places.

Which city laws add their own rules?

Short answer: New York City, Jersey City and Cleveland have their own posting rules in force, and Columbus, Ohio, starts enforcing its rule on January 1, 2027. City rules sit on top of state law, so a New York City job has to meet both.

• New York City (since November 1, 2022): employers with four or more employees, counting owners, as long as one works in the city, plus employment agencies of any size. Ads must show the minimum and maximum salary for any job, promotion or transfer performed in whole or in part in the city, including remotely. A first complaint carries no civil penalty if you fix it within 30 days of the Commission’s notice; uncured and repeat violations can cost up to $250,000, according to the Commission’s fact sheet.
• Jersey City: employers with five or more employees, staff or independent contractors must show the minimum and maximum base salary or hourly wage and the benefits offered, in print and online. The city started its education and enforcement campaign on April 3, 2023.
• Cleveland (since October 27, 2025): private employers with at least 15 employees in the city must put a salary range or scale in formal postings. Per the city’s FAQ, employers get 90 days to cure after a violation is found; after that, fines run up to $1,000 for a first offense and up to $5,000 with two or more past violations in five years.
• Columbus: the council passed Ordinance 2898-2025 on November 5, 2025. It covers employers with 15 or more employees in the city, plus placement agencies working for them, and requires a “reasonable” salary range or scale. The posting rule isn’t enforced until January 1, 2027.

Other cities and counties have their own ordinances that we couldn’t confirm on official pages, so check your local rules too.

Coming in 2027

Delaware’s governor signed House Bill 105 on September 26, 2025, and it takes effect two years after that. The governor’s office says it requires salary or wage ranges and a description of benefits in job postings; the enacted text exempts employers with 25 or fewer employees.

Do pay transparency laws apply to remote jobs?

Short answer: Often, yes. Most state pay transparency laws follow where the work can be done, not where your office is; Washington’s and California’s labor agencies say so in their guidance. A remote posting open to the whole country usually brings several states into play at once.

Here’s how the states with the clearest guidance treat remote roles:

• Washington State covers postings for remote work that a Washington-based employee could do. Its only out-of-state exception is for jobs tied to worksites entirely outside Washington, such as waitstaff at a restaurant in another state.
• California reads its law to apply whenever the position may ever be filled in California, in person or remotely.
• New York covers jobs performed at least partly in the state and jobs outside the state that report to a New York supervisor, office or worksite. Occasional visits don’t count.
• Illinois covers a remote posting when you knew or could reasonably foresee that the work would be done at least partly in Illinois, or that the person would report to someone there.
• Maryland gives its own example: a remote job for a Pennsylvania company that seeks Maryland-based workers is covered.
• Connecticut covers duties performed in the state and jobs elsewhere that report directly to a supervisor, office or worksite in Connecticut.

Watch out: Writing “not open to Washington residents” doesn’t get you out of Washington’s rule. The state’s labor department says an employer cannot avoid the disclosure by saying it won’t accept Washington applicants.

Example: Picture a 40-person insurance agency in Columbus that advertises a remote customer-service job “anywhere in the U.S.” Illinois counts all 40 employees, wherever they sit, and a nationwide remote job is the kind of opening the state expects you to foresee being done there. New York and Maryland reach it too. Washington State counts staff outside Washington toward its 15-employee threshold if the employer has at least one Washington-based employee, so the firm’s first hire there brings that rule in as well. From January 1, 2027, Columbus’s own ordinance applies if at least 15 of the 40 work in the city. One range on the posting costs less than sorting applicants by home state.

Payroll tax, unemployment and new-hire reporting follow a remote hire too; our guide on how to hire a remote employee in another state covers those.

How do you write a pay range that complies?

Short answer: To write a compliant pay range, set it before you post, show a real minimum and maximum you’d pay at hire, and keep it narrow enough to defend. Add benefits and other pay wherever the state asks for them.

1. Build it from your own numbers. Virginia and Maine both list the same four bases: your pay scale, a range you’ve already set for the role, what people in equivalent roles earn now, or your budget. Washington says that if you don’t have a range yet, create one before you publish.
2. Show both ends. Washington rejects “$60,000/per year and up” and “up to $29.00/hour,” and New York City rejects “$15 per hour and up.” If the pay is fixed, one number is fine; New York City’s own example is “$20 per hour.”
3. Keep the width honest. Virginia’s law names the breadth of the range as a factor in whether you set it in good faith. A $40,000 to $140,000 range for a coordinator role invites questions.
4. Split by level and location. Washington’s example lists Accounting Analyst 1, 2 and 3 with a separate range for each. Maryland wants a separate range for each location in a multi-location posting.
5. Handle commission, piece rate and tips. California wants a good-faith estimate of the commission or piece-rate range, and Washington shows “5-8% of net sale price per unit” as an example. New York, Vermont and Maine accept a statement that the job is commission based. Vermont’s tipped jobs must say so and give the range of base wages.
6. Describe benefits with specifics. Washington’s guidance asks you to name the insurance types, retirement plans, vacation hours and number of paid holidays. New Jersey says phrases such as “great benefits offered” don’t count.
7. Keep proof. Illinois wants a copy of each posting as it looked when published, and its complaint form treats pay transparency records not kept for five years as a violation. Maryland asks for compliance records for at least three years after the job is filled.

Write the range and the benefits block once, in your applicant tracking system’s job template, so every board and recruiter gets the same text. Our guide on how to write a job description shows where the pay block fits in the rest of the post.

What counts as a posting?

Internal postings count in most of these states, and so do ads your recruiter or job board runs for you; a generic “Help Wanted” sign usually doesn’t (see the FAQ). You don’t have to post a job at all to hire, as Maryland, Illinois and Connecticut say outright, but the rules apply once you do.

What happens if a posting leaves the range out?

Short answer: A job post that leaves out a required pay range usually gets a chance to be fixed first, then fines that climb with repeat violations. Washington State (RCW 49.58.110), Virginia (Va. Code § 40.1-28.7:12) and Connecticut (Conn. Gen. Stat. § 31-40z, as amended by Public Act 26-12) also let applicants sue on their own, which is where most of the risk sits.

Not shown: Connecticut, D.C., Hawaii, Minnesota and Vermont. See each state’s page linked in the first table.

Behind three of the rows: Colorado’s Equal Pay for Equal Work Act (C.R.S. 8-5-203) counts one job opening as one violation, however many postings list it. New York’s posting law, Labor Law § 194-b, applies the civil penalties in § 218. Washington State’s figures and fix window come from RCW 49.58.110, as amended in 2025.

Applicants can also go to court. Washington State lets an applicant sue within three years for the same $100 to $5,000 per violation plus attorneys’ fees, though damages come from L&I or the court, not both. Virginia lets an applicant or employee sue within one year for actual damages, but not over a posting you corrected in time. Connecticut lets employees and prospective employees sue for compensatory damages, attorney’s fees and costs within two years.

How should a multi-state employer handle pay transparency?

Short answer: A multi-state employer should pick one pay transparency standard that meets the strictest rules it faces and use it on every posting, remote or not. It’s simpler and safer than tracking which board reaches which state.

Our take: If you hire in more than one state, put a range on every job you post, everywhere. The states keep adding laws (three in 2026 alone), and one national template is easier to keep right than a list of exceptions.

A posting block that satisfies the strictest rules in the table has six parts:

• a real minimum and maximum, per level and per location;
• the pay basis (hourly, salary, commission or tips) and any bonus or commission rates;
• a specific benefits description: insurance types, retirement plan, paid time off, paid holidays;
• the date applications are expected to close (Colorado);
• the job description (New York);
• a saved, dated copy kept for five years (Illinois).

Then set up the process around it:

1. List the places that matter: every state where you have employees, plus every state a remote hire could live in.
2. Approve ranges before the job opens. Keep a simple pay table by role and location, signed off by whoever owns payroll.
3. Give recruiters and agencies the range in writing. California makes the third party include it, and New York’s law covers ads a recruiter places for you. If you’re also comparing agency fees, see how much staffing agencies charge.
4. Have an employment lawyer check it once, especially if you hire in Washington, Virginia or Connecticut, where applicants can act on their own.

If your recruiting is spread across several states, a recruitment process outsourcing setup can put one team and one template behind every opening.

What to do this week

1. Audit what’s live. Pull every open posting, including internal ones and those your recruiters run, and check each against the table.
2. Fix remote postings first. They’re the ones most likely to reach Washington, Illinois, New York or California.
3. Add a real range and a specific benefits line to your job template so the next posting is right by default.
4. Brief everyone who posts for you, in writing, with the range for each open role.
5. Put January 1, 2027 on the calendar if you hire in Columbus, and plan for Delaware later that year.

If you’d rather hand the posting and screening to recruiters, our permanent staffing team quotes each role in writing before any work starts, and you make the hire.