MASSACHUSETTS PAY TRANSPARENCY LAW: Are You Ready?

Beginning on October 29, 2025, employers with 25 or more employees in Massachusetts will be required to establish and disclose pay ranges in job postings and to existing employees. Specifically, covered employers will be required to include in any job posting or advertisement for the purpose of recruiting applicants for a particular and specific employment position, the annual salary or hourly wage range that the employer reasonably and in good faith expects to pay for the position at the time of the posting.

In addition to job postings, covered employers will be required to disclose pay ranges: i) when the employer offers an employee a promotion or transfer to a new position with different job duties; and ii) in response to the request of an employee regarding the employee’s currently held position.

Covered employers include out-of-state employers with 25 or more employees with a primary place of work in the Commonwealth during the previous calendar year. This includes remote employees whose primary place of work is Massachusetts.

Covered employers are prohibited from retaliating against employees who exercise their rights under this law. This means that employers should be circumspect about taking adverse employment action against an employee who, e.g., has recently requested the pay range for the employee’s position. This does not mean that an employer may never take adverse employment action soon after an employee has exercised his rights under the law; it simply means that the employer should tread carefully and ensure that it has proper documentation to support its action. Employer documentation preceding the employee’s exercise of their rights is often particularly helpful in this scenario.

Employers who violate the requirements of the pay transparency law will be subject to the following penalties:

• First Offense: Warning

• Second Offense:  A fine of not more than $500

• Third Offense:  A fine of not more than $1,000

• Fourth and Subsequent Offenses:  Higher penalties as set forth in Mass. Gen. Laws Ch. 149, Sec. 27C.

During the first two years following the effective date of the law, until October 29, 2027, covered employers will have 2 business days to cure defects upon receipt of a Notice to Cure letter from the MA Attorney General’s Office. If the employer is able to cure within the two day period, no penalty will be imposed.

Please reach out to Lori Clark (lori@clarkderagonlaw.com) or Beth Deragon (beth@clarkderagonlaw.com) to discuss how to get your business ready to comply with the new law.