Massachusetts Pay Transparency Act – Key Provisions Of The New Law

Massachusetts Pay Transparency Act

The Massachusetts Legislature has adopted a new law providing for pay transparency, which is denominated as Chapter 141 of the Acts of 2024. On July 31, 2024, the Governor, Maura Healey, signed this Act.

Introduction

This Act has two key provisions:

1. The posting of a disclosure of salary ranges for employees' job classifications.
2. The filing of equal employment opportunity reports sent to the federal government, to also be filed with the State Secretary of State on February 1.

The Posting of Salary Ranges¹

• For employers of 25 or more employees, the law requires for each job posting it, shall include the annual salary or hourly wage range that the employer "reasonably and in good faith expects to pay for the position." It appears that the salary range is the base wage for the position and does not include stipends and other pay benefits.
• The posting requirement applies to the following Activities:
  • Any advertisement of a job posting for the recruitment of a specific position, whether completed directly by the Employer or by a third party for the Employer.
  • In any offer of promotion, the employer shall provide the pay range for that position.
  • For a transfer to a new position with different job responsibilities, the employer shall provide the pay range for the new position.
  • The release of the pay range for a specific position to an employee holding the position or to an applicant for such position upon their request to the employer

This Section of the law is effective on August 1, 2025:

Filing of EEO Reports with the Secretary of State

• All employers meeting the threshold will have to file EEO reports also with the State Secretary of State as outlined below.
• Private employers of more than 100 employees have to annually file their EEO-1 reports with the Secretary of State by February 1, 2025, and thereafter annually.
• State and local government information report EEO-4 needs to be filed with the Secretary of State by the public employer every other year by February 1. Public employers subject to the EEO-4 filing are not required to do so until February 1, 2026.
• Elementary and secondary schools subject to the EEO-5 data report need to also file their reports with the Secretary of State every other year on February 1.
• The law specifically provides that such filing will not be subject to the Public Records Law. The Secretary will organize the documents for transmittal to the State Secretary of Labor and Workforce Development, who shall publish on its website the aggregate wage data reports. The Secretary of Labor will have to publish such reports by July 1, annually.

The Enforcement of the Law

• The statute provides exclusive jurisdiction for the enforcement of the law with the Attorney General and does not provide an employee with a private right of a lawsuit against the employer.
• Violation of this Act is subject to fines, with the first offense being a warning and subsequent offenses subject to monetary penalties.
• The Act does not authorize triple damages like the Wage Act.

No Retaliation or Discrimination

The Act contains new retaliation and discrimination provisions protecting an employee who exercises their rights under the posting provisions of this Act.

Footnote

1. It is expected that the Attorney General will issue guidelines on its' enforcement of the posting requirements.

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.