Massachusetts’ law on pay transparency and pay data reporting will take effect on October 29, 2025. The new law will require employers with 25 or more employees in the Commonwealth to disclose pay range information in job postings and, in certain circumstances, provide current employees with information about pay for their roles.

In addition to those new posting and disclosure requirements, the law requires employers with 100 or more Massachusetts employees to submit EEO and pay data to the Commonwealth annually. The first round of annual reports was due on February 1, 2025.

Pay Posting and Disclosure Requirements

Employers with at least 25 employees in the Commonwealth will be required to:

• Include a position’s pay range on job postings
• Disclose a position’s pay range to employees who are offered a promotion or transfer to a new position with different job responsibilities
• Upon request, disclose the pay range for a position to an employee who holds that position or to an applicant for the position

“Pay range” is the “annual salary range or hourly wage range that the covered employer reasonably and in good faith expects to pay for such position.” Unlike some other states’ pay transparency laws, Massachusetts will not require disclosure of non-salary compensation (such as bonuses) or a description of other benefits.

“Postings” include “any advertisement or job posting intended to recruit job applicants for a particular and specific employment position,” whether posted directly by the employer or indirectly through a third party.

Pay Data Reporting Requirements

Private employers with 100 or more employees in the Commonwealth at any time during the prior calendar year will be required to submit an annual EEO data report with workforce demographic information and pay data organized by race, ethnicity, sex, and job category. This data must be submitted to the Secretary of the Commonwealth by February 1 of each year.

Unions, state and local governments, and elementary and secondary schools will also be required to submit pay data information, but only every other year.

Submission to the Commonwealth of a federal EEO-1 Employer Information Report will satisfy the reporting requirement.

Anti-Retaliation and Enforcement

The new law will make it unlawful for a covered employer to discharge or otherwise retaliate or discriminate against an employee or applicant who: takes action to enforce the rights under the law; complains about a violation of the law to the employer, the employer’s agent, or the attorney general; institutes a proceeding under the law; or testifies or is about to testify in a proceeding.

The law does not create a private right of action. Instead, it will be enforced by the Attorney General. The Attorney General’s (“AG”) Office is authorized to seek declaratory or injunctive relief and impose fines for an employer’s failure to submit EEO reports or failure to post or disclose pay range information. A first violation of the new law will result in only a warning. After that warning for a first offense, the Attorney general can levy the following fines:

• Second offense – a fine of not more than $500
• Third offense – a fine of not more than $1,000
• Fourth or subsequent offenses – a fine of $7,500 to $25,000 per violation, depending on the circumstances

An “offense” is defined as “one or more job postings for positions made by the same employer during a 48-hour period.” In other words, multiple posting within a 48-hour period will not be considered separate offenses. In addition, fines are not subject to treble damages under the Massachusetts Wage Act.

Until October 29, 2027, covered employers will have two business days to correct any violation upon receiving a notice to cure from the Attorney General’s Office. If the defect is cured within that timeframe, there will be no penalty for the employer.

Preparing to Comply

Employers should monitor the AG’s “public awareness campaign” required under the Act, which must be conducted no more than six months after its October 19, 2025, effective date. The AG has already released frequently asked questions to help employers navigate their new wage transparency requirements.

As they get ready to comply with the new law, employers with 25 or more Massachusetts employees should:

• Review their pay structures to ensure that pay ranges are consistent across a role
• Ensure their recruiting team (and any third-party recruiters) have access to pay information and develop standardized and consistent language for use in postings
• Provide hiring managers access to information about salary ranges for positions on their team, including vacant positions
• Provide hiring managers and recruiters with best practices guidance regarding how to set offers within ranges, document that decision-making, discuss salary ranges with candidates, and respond to questions about placement in range and other negotiation scenarios
• Develop a standardized (and preferably centralized) process for responding to employees’ and applicants’ inquiries about pay ranges, including educating managers and hiring teams about where to direct those inquiries

In addition, employers who have had 100 or more Massachusetts employees in a year should:

• Ensure that they are prepared to submit completed EEO-1 forms to the Commonwealth by the February 1 deadline.

Next Steps for Massachusetts Employers

• If you have not recently assessed your pay program, now is the time. Each role should have a current, accurate job description and a salary range. A deeper dive to confirm the salary ranges in the context of your organization and to ensure there are no inequities in employee pay is also recommended.
• Update all job postings to reflect current salary range information. This includes postings that have been distributed to third party platforms.
• Hiring managers are the face of your organization from the candidate perspective. They should be provided with access to their employees’ salary ranges and ranges for vacant positions. A guide that explains how to discuss salaries with candidates and the guide rails for negotiating new hire salaries can be an invaluable reference.
• Policies and procedures should be in place for employees to easily request pay ranges for their own position and any position for which they are applying.