Representative Steven S. Howitt supports legislation requiring salary transparency by employers

Boston – State Representative Steven S. Howitt (R-Seekonk) has endorsed a proposed change in state law that would require most employers to disclose the salary range for open positions on job postings to better inform prospective applicants and help close the gender and racial wage gap.

House Bill 4109, An Act relative to salary range transparency, would require businesses with 25 or more employees to provide information on the specific range of pay for an advertised job opening, and to disclose this information to current employees being offered a promotion or transfer to a new position with different job responsibilities. The bill was engrossed by the House of Representatives on a vote of 148-8 on October 4.

Ten other states, including Connecticut, Rhode Island, and New York, already have similar pay disclosure laws.

According to Representative Howitt, House Bill 4109 would impose penalties against any business that fails to comply with the salary range disclosure requirement, which would be enforced by the Attorney General. The bill calls for a written warning for a first offense, a fine of up to $500 for a second offense, and a fine not to exceed $1,000 for a third offense.

The bill requires the Attorney General to conduct a public awareness campaign to educate businesses about the new requirements. There will be a one-year grace period after the law goes into effect before enforcement will begin. For the first two years the law is in effect, covered businesses will have two business days after being notified of a violation to correct it before a fine is imposed.

House Bill 4109 also requires companies with 100 or more employees to annually file demographic and wage data on their workforce with the Secretary of State’s office, which is the same information they are already required to provide to the federal government. The Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development would then compile and post these reports with the data aggregated so as not to identify individual employers.

Representative Howitt said House Bill 4109 will help to correct a shortcoming in the state’s 2016 pay equity law, which requires men and women to receive equal pay for comparable work. Although the law prohibits employers from inquiring about a job applicant’s salary history, it does not prevent companies from asking about a prospective hire’s salary expectations without having to disclose how much the position pays.

Representative Howitt noted that House Bill 4109 is a legislative priority of the Massachusetts Caucus of Women Legislators, which is co-chaired by Representative Hannah Kane (R-Shrewsbury) and Senator Joan Lovely (D-Salem). The Caucus says the bill will help to elevate economic opportunity and eliminate barriers for women in the workforce.

House Bill 4109 is also being backed by several business organizations. This includes the Associated Industries of Massachusetts (AIM), which is the state’s largest non-profit, non-partisan business association representing more than 3,500 businesses in 150 different industries, and the Black Economic Council of Massachusetts (BECMA), which advocates for Black businesses across Massachusetts.

House Bill 4109 now heads to the Senate for its consideration.