ASK THE HEADHUNTER Salary Range Law: Will it help you?

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Salary Range Law: Will it help you?

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Question New laws in New York and California require employers to include the salary range of a job in job ads. Theoretically this will help applicants apply for jobs that pay what they're looking for rather than waste time playing "Guess the pay" before agreeing to interviews. Every law can be gamed. I can see companies posting ranges like $25,000-$100,000. Maybe they really plan to pay no more than $40,000. Do you think there's any way a salary range law will help us? Nick’s Reply Hah — you're right. If there's a law about pay, somebody's going to game it!

Join us for discussion! https://www.asktheheadhunter.com/16616/salary-range-law">Salary Range Law: Will it help you?

                              

Question

New laws in New York and California require employers to include the salary range of a job in job ads. Theoretically this will help applicants apply for jobs that pay what they're looking for rather than waste time playing "Guess the pay" before agreeing to interviews. Every law can be gamed. I can see companies posting ranges like $25,000-$100,000. Maybe they really plan to pay no more than $40,000. Do you think there's any way a salary range law will help us?

Nick’s Reply

https://www.asktheheadhunter.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/scales.png" alt="salary range law" width="300" height="200" />Hah — you're right. If there's a law about pay, somebody's going to game it! You actually offer a good example: meaninglessly broad salary ranges. Who's going to police that?

What's the story on salary range law?

Proponents of salary range laws say employers have been getting away with underpaying workers. Disclosure of salaries in job postings will supposedly fix that and bring fairness to hiring practices. (https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/29/business/nyc-us-salary-transparency.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">New York Times)

https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/legal-and-compliance/state-and-local-updates/pages/nyc-pay-transparency-pay-compression.aspx" target="_blank" rel="noopener">SHRM, a professional association for human resources managers, says these laws will cause "salary compression" because employers will be pressured to increase starting salaries so they can fill jobs in a competitive market. And they'll pay for that by leaving existing employees' pay stagnant.

Leading Silicon Valley law firm https://www.wsgr.com/en/insights/new-pay-transparency-laws-in-california-and-new-york-city-impose-disclosure-obligations-for-any-position-that-can-be-performed-in-those-locations.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Wilson Sonsini points out that the New York City law permits employers to exclude the value of benefits, bonuses, commissions, equity and other forms of compensation from these disclosures. This creates a lot of leeway around the new requirements, and confusion around salary negotiations.

Will a salary range law help you?

I’m skeptical. I think it depends more on the company you’re dealing with and on how it implements the law, if your state even has a law. It helps to read a variety of reports about these salary range laws, which seem to be spreading across states. (So far, New York City, California, Washington State and Colorado are on the bandwagon.)

I'm more interested in how real job seekers —