Beginning on October 29, 2025, covered employers in Massachusetts are required to disclose the minimum and maximum amount of compensation that an employer reasonably and in good faith expects to pay for a particular and specific position. Disclosure is required in external job postings, to employees who request such information, and to internal job candidates.

The pay disclosure requirements are mandated by Massachusetts’ “Act Relative to Salary Range Transparency,” also referred to as the Massachusetts Pay Transparency Act (Act).[1] Massachusetts joins at least fifteen other states and the District of Columbia, including three localities in the state of Ohio, which have enacted pay transparency laws in an effort to permit employees and job applicants to better negotiate compensation terms. Below is a review of the key provisions of the Act and guidance (FAQs) provided by the Commonwealth’s Office to the Attorney General to help employers comply with Massachusetts pay transparency compliance requirements.

Which employers are covered by the Act?

The Act applies to public and private employers with 25 or more employees whose primary place of work is Massachusetts during the prior calendar year. All employees, including full-time, part-time, seasonal, and temporary employees, who perform services for wage, remuneration, or other compensation, must be included in the headcount to determine if the 25-employee threshold is satisfied.

For the purposes of the Act, the definition of “primary place of work” is consistent with the term “primary place of work” as defined in Massachusetts Earned Sick Time FAQs (EST FAQs).  Under the EST FAQs, the primary place of work for most employees is where the employee performs most of their work for the employer. The EST FAQs provide the following additional guidance relating to employees who telecommute, travel, or frequently change worksites:

1. If an employee telecommutes to a Massachusetts worksite under an arrangement with the employer, Massachusetts is the primary place of work even though the employee does not physically spend those telecommuting hours in Massachusetts.
2. If an employee spends work hours traveling outside of Massachusetts but returns regularly to a Massachusetts base of operations before resuming a new travel schedule, Massachusetts is the primary place of work.
3. If an employee constantly switches locations of work, the primary place of work may be determined by assessing the state in which the employee spent the plurality of their work time over the previous…year. For new employees, employers should make a reasonable assessment of the primary place of work.
4. If an employee permanently relocates to Massachusetts, the employee’s primary place of work will become Massachusetts on the first date of actual work in Massachusetts.
5. If an employee moves between worksites often enough so that the employer is unable to determine primary place of work (such as in the construction industry), the primary place of work is the state in which the employee worked for the most hours during the previous calendar year.
6. To the extent that an employer distinguishes between the term “remote” work and the term “telecommuting,” the primary place of work for out-of-state remote employees is Massachusetts if employees are reporting to or telecommuting to a Massachusetts worksite.
7. It is not necessary for the employee to spend 50% of their working time in Massachusetts for it to be the employee’s primary place of work.

The FAQs for the Act specify that employers should calculate the headcount once per year as an average of the payroll periods of that year by adding the number of employees on the payroll during each pay period of the year and dividing by the number of pay periods.

When is disclosure of the pay range required?

The pay range must be disclosed in any advertisement or job posting intended to recruit job applicants for a particular and specific employment position, including but not limited to recruiting directly by a covered employer or indirectly through a third party. The requirement to disclose pay ranges in a job posting or advertisement applies to all positions 1) in which the primary place of work is Massachusetts, 2) that can be performed remotely to a Massachusetts worksite, or 3) of remote workers with a primary place of work in Massachusetts. Consequently, if the possibility exists that the position can be performed in Massachusetts, employers should comply with the Act.

In addition, covered employers must disclose pay ranges for a particular and specific position to:

• Employees offered a promotion or transfer to a new position with different job responsibilities,
• An employee in their current position, upon their request and regardless of whether a vacancy exists in that role,
• Applicants, upon request. The term “applicant” refers to all applicants, and the definition is not limited to applicants who meet the minimum qualifications for the position.

The Act contains a nonretaliation provision prohibiting employers from retaliating against employees who take any action to enforce their rights under the Act.

How is pay range defined?

The term pay range is defined by the Act and FAQs as the minimum and maximum annual salary or hourly wage for a position that the covered employer reasonably and in good faith believes at the time of the posting that it expects to pay for the advertised job, promotion, or transfer opportunity. 

If the position’s hourly or salary wage is based on piece rate or commission, then the employer must disclose the piece rate or commission range that the employer reasonably expects to pay for the position in the job posting.

How are the requirements of the Act enforced?

The Massachusetts Attorney General has enforcement authority under the Act. Employers who violate the Act are subject to the following penalties:

• A warning for the first offense
• A fine of not more than $500 for the second offense
• A fine of not more than $1,000 for the third offense
• For the fourth or repeated violations, the provisions of General Law Chapter 149 § 27C(b)(1) and (2) apply, which impose fines of up to $25,000

For the first two years, until October 29, 2027, employers will have two business days to cure any defects with respect to compliance with the Act. The duty to cure begins on receipt of a Notice to Cure letter from the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office.

Consistent with their authority to investigate complaints, the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office also encourages employees to file a complaint with the Civil Rights Division if the employee or applicant believes their rights under the Act have been violated.

What this means to you

Employers should take the following steps to ensure compliance with the Act and to avoid legal action by employees or applicants:

• When calculating headcount, ensure that ensure the primary place of work is properly determined for remote employees or employees who travel or change worksites frequently.
• Consider all sources of job postings for particular and specific positions, including job postings with third parties and on social media, and provide compliant pay ranges for all positions in which the primary place of work is Massachusetts and for positions that can be performed remotely to a Massachusetts worksite.
• Train managers about the requirements of the Act and appropriate responses to employees who request pay range information to avoid claims of retaliation.
• Train human resource personnel on how to determine pay ranges and on responding to applicants who request pay range information. Consider designating a certain group within the human resource department to provide information related to pay ranges. Maintain records relating to pay ranges for each position.
• Employers should dedicate time and resources to conduct a privileged internal pay review to ensure current employees are paid fairly and consistently with pay ranges disclosed under the Act to avoid claims of pay discrimination.

Contact us

If you have questions regarding the Massachusetts Pay Transparency Act, contact Robert Blaisdell, Tracey O’Brien, or your Husch Blackwell attorney for more information.

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[1] The Act also requires certain employers to provide Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) reports to the Secretary of the Commonwealth, beginning in February 2025. The contents of this blog post are limited to a discussion of the pay disclosure requirements.