Massachusetts’ pay transparency law is set to take effect Oct. 29, 2025. The law requires organizations to adopt salary range disclosures and, for some, new pay data reporting obligations.
The law applies to employers with 25 or more employees in Massachusetts and establishes requirements that go beyond many other recent U.S. state pay transparency laws.
Who Must Comply
- Employers with 25+ employees must disclose pay ranges for all external job postings, as well as internal promotions, transfers, or new internal roles.
- Employers with 100+ employees will also be required to submit pay data through their federal EEO-1 reports to the Massachusetts Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development (EOLWD). This mirrors reporting obligations in states like Illinois and California.
Requirements and Penalties
- Salary Range Disclosure: Employers must provide a good faith estimate of the pay range in every job posting. This ensures candidates and employees know what to expect upfront, similar to requirements in New York City.
- Pay Data Reporting: Employers with 100+ employees must submit federal EEO-1 data to the EOLWD. Reports will give regulators deeper visibility into pay disparities across gender, race, and job categories.
Employers that fail to comply face the following penalties:
- First offense: Warning notice.
- Second offense: Fine of $500.
- Third offense: Fine of $1,000.
- Employers may also face injunctive or declaratory relief for ongoing violations.
Why This Matters
Massachusetts’ law is more comprehensive than some other state transparency requirements because it combines salary range disclosure with pay data reporting. Employers that have not yet established a formal pay transparency strategy should act quickly.
A robust compensation philosophy, clear salary bands, and legally defensible pay practices are critical to compliance — and to maintaining employee trust once ranges are made public.
How Trusaic Can Help
At Trusaic, we help employers prepare for pay transparency laws with solutions that ensure compliance and advance long-term pay equity:
- PayParity®: Identify, explain, and remediate pay disparities across gender, race, and more using regression-based analysis aligned with legal standards.
- Remediation Optimization Spend Agent (R.O.S.A.): Optimize remediation efforts while maximizing ROI.
- Salary Range Finder: Create competitive, equitable pay ranges to meet disclosure requirements and reduce risk of inequities forming at hire or promotion.
- Regulatory Pay Transparency Reporting™ : Automate reporting obligations across multiple jurisdictions, including Massachusetts, with one-click, compliant outputs.
The Oct, 29, 2025 effective date is just around the corner. Employers with operations in Massachusetts should prepare now by:
- Auditing compensation structures.
- Establishing clear and equitable salary bands.
- Reviewing job postings and recruiter scripts for compliance.
- Preparing federal EEO-1 data for submission to the EOLWD.
By acting early, organizations can avoid penalties, comply with Massachusetts’ new requirements, and strengthen their employer brand through fair and transparent pay practices.
👉 To learn more, visit our Global Pay Transparency Center – Massachusetts.