House to consider salary disclosure bill this fall
Photo | Flickr | Ajay Suresh
The Massachusetts State House
Add a new push for salary disclosure and transparency to the House's still-coming-into-focus fall agenda.
House Speaker Ron Mariano's office said Tuesday the chamber's top Democrats plan in the coming weeks to bring forward legislation that would require many Massachusetts employers to disclose a wage or salary range on job postings.
"Enhancing wage transparency is a critical facet of the effort to ensure equal pay for equal work, and to make Massachusetts more competitive," Mariano said in a statement.
The Labor and Workforce Development Committee on Monday advanced a redrafted bill (H 4100) that would mandate any public or private employer with at least 25 employees include a projected salary or wage alongside any job listing.
At least eight other states, including neighboring Connecticut, Rhode Island and New York, have similar requirements in place.
The bill would also impose new data-reporting steps on employers with at least 100 workers in an attempt to better monitor for pay disparities by race and gender in individual economic sectors.
Business groups gave the measure a mixed reaction. The Associated Industries of Massachusetts endorsed the bill, according to committee co-chair Rep. Josh Cutler, while the Retailers Association of Massachusetts warned that it could add more "red tape and liability exposure" for smaller employers with limited resources.
Both branches are set to meet in formal sessions this week for the first time since July 31, where lawmakers are expected to accept a compromise tax relief package. Legislative leaders have offered limited details about what else is on their to-do lists before Nov. 15, the last day for formal sessions this year under legislative rules.
Mariano has also signaled he hopes to advance a controversial gun law reform bill in the fall, while Senate President Karen Spilka has said she wants action to control prescription drug prices and address issues in the early education and care field.
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