Washington State has again refined its Equal Pay and Opportunities Act (EPOA) with the passage of Substitute House Bill 5408 on April 22, 2025.
The amendments address employer concerns raised after the state’s pay transparency rules took effect in 2023, clarifying how wage disclosures should be presented and adjusting compliance obligations.
This follows last year’s wave of lawsuits filed against employers, highlighting the urgency of aligning hiring and internal mobility practices with the law.
Key Updates in SB 5408
1. Fixed Pay Allowed in Job Postings
- Previous requirement: Employers had to disclose a “wage scale or salary range” in job postings.
- New clarification: If a position has only a single rate of pay — whether for new hires or internal transfers — employers can list that fixed amount rather than creating an artificial range.
- Why it matters: This addresses disputes where employers argued that not all jobs had ranges, reducing the risk of litigation over “nonexistent” salary bands.
2. Internal Transfers Covered
- The same flexibility applies to internal promotions and transfers, which previously fell into a gray area.
- Employees moving within a company now benefit from the same transparency rules as external candidates.
3. Clarification on Statutory Damages
- SB 5408 clarifies how damages should be calculated when employees successfully bring claims.
- This reduces ambiguity for courts and employers alike, offering a clearer picture of potential liability.
4. Grace Period for Employers
- A transition period gives employers additional time to align policies and practices with the amended rules.
- This measure recognizes the compliance burden and aims to encourage proactive adjustments rather than punitive outcomes.
Broader Impact on Employers
The amendments reflect Washington’s attempt to balance transparency with practical implementation. Employers still face significant compliance obligations, but the revisions:
- Reduce unnecessary litigation risk.
- Provide clarity on enforcement and damages.
- Create fairer expectations for roles with fixed pay.
As with the initial law, Washington continues to set a precedent that other U.S. states are likely to follow in evolving their own pay transparency frameworks.
What Employers Should Do Now
To stay compliant and avoid costly disputes, employers should:
- Review and update all job postings — internal and external — to reflect fixed pay or ranges as appropriate.
- Train HR and hiring managers on the amended requirements.
- Reassess documentation processes to ensure wage disclosures are accurate and consistently applied.
- Consider proactive pay equity audits to ensure fixed pay postings don’t inadvertently mask disparities.
How Trusaic Can Help
Trusaic’s PayParity® and Salary Range Finder® solutions work in tandem to help employers comply with pay transparency requirements while advancing meaningful pay equity.
- PayParity identifies pay inequities across gender, race/ethnicity, age, and more using intersectional, regression-based analyses. It also supports remediation planning, ensuring your compensation decisions are both fair and legally-defensible.
- Salary Range Finder empowers HR and compensation teams to create data-driven salary bands that are competitive, equitable, and transparent. Real-time guidance ensures new hire offers are aligned with both market rates and your internal pay structures — helping you attract talent while maintaining trust within your workforce.
With real-time pay guidance, managers, recruiters, and HR teams can make fair and competitive pay decisions faster — reducing time-to-hire, improving offer acceptance rates, and ensuring salary offers are aligned with your pay equity goals.