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Pay transparency laws continue to change the way employers approach compensation. It started with a handful of state and local requirements and has now grown nationwide, creating new challenges for HR teams managing workforces across multiple locations. Before posting salary ranges publicly, organizations need to understand whether their compensation strategy can stand up to employee, candidate, and regulatory scrutiny.

Top Takeaways for HR

• Posting salary ranges publicly before auditing internal data often exposes instances where new hire offers match or exceed the earnings of long-tenured employees, creating trust issues and immediate internal pushback.
• While salary benchmarking answers whether your pay ranges are externally competitive against the market, a formal pay equity analysis is required to determine if pay distribution is internally equitable and legally defensible among employees performing similar work.
• To safely disclose pay ranges, HR must follow a three-step progression: first, align internal job architecture; second, benchmark against external market data; and third, perform an annual pay equity audit to rectify disparities before publishing.

In Part 1 of this series, we explored how pay transparency and pay equity have expanded from compliance concerns into business priorities. We discussed the benefits of building structured compensation programs, the risks of getting transparency wrong, and the broader impact compensation decisions can have on operations, finances, and employer reputation. 

Compensation practices today are under a level of scrutiny we've never seen before. Employees are more willing to discuss pay with coworkers. Candidates expect salary ranges before they apply, and a growing number of states are requiring employers to be more transparent about how compensation decisions are made.

There’s no slowdown in the pay transparency laws that continue to expand across the country, and employers are increasingly being asked to rethink how compensation is communicated throughout the hiring process. What was once considered confidential HR information has become part of more open and “public facing” recruiting and employee engagement strategies.

Pay transparency laws continue to gain momentum across the country, and employers are quickly learning that compensation practices are no longer just an internal HR matter. States are increasingly requiring employers to disclose salary ranges, limit salary history inquiries, and provide employees with greater visibility into pay practices. Virginia is the latest state to be added to the growing list.

Top Takeaways for HR

• Virginia’s pay transparency law is effective on July 1, 2026 and Virginia joins Washington as one of the only states where applicants or employees can directly file private lawsuits for job-posting violations; because this drastically increases class-action and litigation exposure, HR must treat this as a high-priority risk area rather than a minor job-board formatting exercise.
• Unlike other jurisdictions that exempt small businesses, Virginia's pay transparency and strict salary history bans apply to all employers operating in or recruiting into the Commonwealth, including remote companies with a single potential Virginia-based candidate; your recruiting workflows, recruiter scripts, and applicant tracking systems must be standardized immediately to eliminate past wage inquiries.
• To survive scrutiny from the Virginia Attorney General, HR must establish salary bands using documented, referenceable metrics, rather than arbitrarily broad numbers.

Not long ago, many companies viewed pay equity audits as a defensive measure to avoid legal penalties or prepare for a rare regulatory inspection. Managing compensation was about matching market rates, and teams could often get by with basic annual adjustments.

 Understanding the balance between staying compliant and advancing a companyculture of transparency and fairness is a top priority for HR and leadership. Act 203 (S.B. 1057), commonly referred to as the Hawaii pay transparency law, was enacted in 2023 and supports both transparency and fairness for workforces in Hawaii. Here are three key takeaways you’ll learn in this article: 

This article is part of an ongoing legal series designed to provide insight and practical guidance on current and emerging workplace compliance issues. These insights shared by lawyers are based on their interpretation of existing regulations and proposed changes, and intended for informational purposes, not to be regarded as legal advice. 

Pay transparency continues to gain traction at the state level, and Rhode Island is no exception. Let’s dive into the details of how this law works and how your team can stay compliant.

This article is part of an ongoing legal series designed to provide insight and practical guidance on current and emerging workplace compliance issues. These insights shared by lawyers are based on their interpretation of existing regulations and proposed changes, and intended for informational purposes, not to be regarded as legal advice.