The state of salary transparency in health care and other industries
Employee compensation has historically been shrouded in secrecy, with employers rarely disclosing earnings for job openings until after offering the job to a candidate. This practice frequently causes candidates to decline offers when the salary doesn’t meet their expectations, resulting in a tremendous waste of time and effort for the candidate and the recruiter. Legislation requiring pay to be publicized helps avoid this situation and has ramped up recently.
Prospective employees strongly prefer upfront salary details. The Society for Human Resource Management’s 2023 research indicated that 82% of U.S. workers were more likely to consider applying for a job if the listing included the pay range. However, AON, a leading global professional services firm, found that 75% of employers weren’t ready for pay transparency laws in its North America Pay Transparency Readiness Study, released in December 2024. Furthermore, it found that 63% of employers didn’t currently share salary ranges with their employees, and of the 37% that did, only 61% did so because they were required to by law.
Salary transparency benefits every industry, including health care, where recruitment is fast-paced and hiring the best talent often hinges on pay. It’s particularly helpful to travel nurses and other health care professionals due to the varying costs of living, especially housing costs, in different areas of the nation. Vivian Health dove into the legislation across all 50 states and the District of Columbia to learn which ones currently have salary transparency laws or plan to adopt regulations in the near future. Vivian provides essential details on what’s included in existing laws to help health care and other workers reduce pay gaps and make more informed career decisions.
What is salary transparency?
Salary transparency is the practice of openly sharing information about employee compensation. This practice may include disclosing salary ranges for roles during the hiring process and sharing data about current employees’ pay. The goal is to reduce wage gaps, increase trust and create an equitable workplace where employees feel more informed.
Salary transparency protects job seekers during recruitment by requiring employers to provide the pay range for a role they’re advertising upfront. This requirement prevents potential employees from wasting time applying for positions that don’t pay enough to meet their needs and allows individuals to compare different roles and opportunities much more efficiently. Salary transparency also benefits employers by helping attract top talent to their vacancies and streamlining pay negotiations during the offer process to hire clinicians quicker and more cost-effectively.
What’s covered in pay transparency legislation?
In January 2020, Maryland became the first state to require employers to provide salary ranges for open positions upon request to job applicants. However, Colorado was the first state to require employers to publicly post salary ranges for all job openings automatically without request, which took effect in January 2021.
Since then, several states have approved salary transparency laws, but these laws run the gamut on the details that must be revealed and when they must be shared. However, these laws typically cover the following key areas.
- Salary information: Some states require employers to disclose wage ranges but have different requirements for when and how to disclose them. For example, some states require employers to include a range in the job listing at the time of publication. In contrast, others don’t require employers to disclose this range until after the first interview, at the applicant’s request or sometimes even later in the hiring process.
- Total compensation: Some states require employers to disclose more than just the pay range. These states may require transparency regarding anything that makes up the full compensation package, such as benefits, bonuses, commissions, etc.
- Remote employees: Some states only require salary transparency for in-office or hybrid roles, while others require it for remote jobs. Employers with employees in multiple states may find salary transparency for remote roles challenging.
Salary transparency could eventually be required on a federal level, making requirements the same across states. Some states might resist a national salary transparency law due to the challenges of implementing a uniform standard across diverse state economies and labor markets.
Legislation proposed in the House of Representatives (H.R.1599) on March 14, 2023, would require employers nationwide, regardless of size or number of employees, to provide wage ranges for all job postings to applicants and existing employees for their positions. H.R.1599, called the Salary Transparency Act, was referred to the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, where it still sits as of this writing.
Until a federal law is approved, states continue to pass their own versions, creating a patchwork of laws with differing requirements. Because there aren’t laws in every state and the ones that have passed some form of salary transparency legislation have varied rules, it can be tricky for employers to comply, especially if they have remote employees in multiple states. It can also make it challenging for prospective or current employees to get the salary details they need to make informed career decisions.
Quick view of states with salary transparency laws
Currently, 14 states and the District of Columbia have laws regarding salary transparency already enacted or approved and set to go into effect in 2025. The following table shows all states with laws as of May 16, 2025, along with the effective dates, employers impacted and links to copies of the legislation.
Cities with Salary Transparency Laws
In addition to entire states, certain cities have enacted salary transparency laws to enhance state laws or because no state law currently exists.
New Jersey
- Jersey City (with five or more employees) March 2022: Employers that use any print or digital media circulating within the city to provide notice of employment opportunities must disclose a minimum and maximum salary and/or hourly wage range, including benefits, in the posting or advertisement. This law also applies to promotions and transfers.
New York
- Ithaca (with four or more employees) September 2022: When advertising a job, promotion or transfer opportunity, employers must state the minimum and maximum annual salary or hourly wage range for the position.
- New York City (with four or more employees) November 2022: When advertising a job, promotion, or transfer opportunity, employers must state the minimum and maximum pay range for the position, but they don’t need to include any other compensation details.
- Westchester County (all employees countywide except the county itself) November 2022: When advertising a job, promotion or transfer opportunity, employers must state the minimum and maximum annual salary or hourly wage range for the position.
Ohio
- Cincinnati (with 15 or more employees) March 2020: Upon request, employers must provide the pay scale for a position to an applicant who has received a conditional offer of employment. This requirement doesn’t apply to internal promotions or transfers, to applicants who previously worked for the company within the past five years or to positions with salaries set by collective bargaining.
- Toledo (with 15 or more employees) June 2020: Upon request, employers must provide the pay scale for a position to an applicant who has received a conditional offer of employment. This requirement doesn’t apply to internal promotions or transfers, to applicants who previously worked for the company within the past five years or to positions with salaries set by collective bargaining.
Breakdown of existing salary transparency laws (pre-2025)
California
The California Equal Pay Act went into effect in early 2023. Upon request, employers with one to 14 employees must disclose salary ranges to applicants for the position they applied for and to any employee for their current position. However, employers with 15 employees or more, even if only one of them works in California, must:
- Provide salary ranges in all job postings.
- Give employees the salary range for a specific role upon request.
- Not ask a job candidate about their pay history to determine whether to hire them and what to pay them.
Colorado
Colorado has had pay transparency laws requiring the announcement of promotions and disclosure of pay ranges in job postings since Jan. 1, 2021. However, an update in 2024 extended these laws to now require all employers with at least one worker in the state to announce all job opportunities to every employee on the same day the position opens, not just those related to promotions. Furthermore, every job posting by public and private employers must disclose:
- Hourly or salary rates or ranges, including day rate compensation.
- General description of any bonuses, commissions or other forms of compensation.
- General description of all employment benefits.
- Date the application window is expected to close.
Note: Through July 1, 2029, employers not physically located in the state with less than 15 employees working remotely in Colorado are only required to provide notice of remote job opportunities.
Specific to health care: Colorado has required reporting by the Supplement Healthcare Staffing Agencies. Senate Bill 22-210 requires all SHSAs to report to the Division of Labor Standards and Statistics containing details on the amount of money charged quarterly to health care facilities and, of that amount, how much supplemental staff provided to those facilities earned. These reports must be made twice yearly and are part of a collaborative data collection effort between DLSS, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment and the Colorado Department of Health Care and Public Financing.
Connecticut
Connecticut’s Public Act 21-30 went into effect on Oct. 1, 2021, and applies to all employers. It requires employers to disclose the pay range for a job at the applicant’s request or before making a job offer, whichever occurs first.
Regarding current employees, Connecticut employers must disclose wage ranges upon request or when their position changes.
District of Columbia
In March 2024, the District of Columbia amended an extremely narrow Wage Transparency Act of 2014 that primarily barred employers from not allowing employees to disclose or discuss their salaries with other employees.
The Wage Transparency Omnibus Amendment Act of 2023 took effect on June 30, 2024, and requires employers to provide the minimum and maximum projected salary or hourly pay in all advertised job listings and position descriptions. Employers must also disclose before the first interview if there are any health care benefits a prospective employee would receive if they took the position.
Hawai’i
Hawai’i requires businesses with 50 or more employees to provide salary ranges or hourly wage rates with every job posting. This data must accurately reflect what an employer reasonably expects to pay for a role. Hawai’i’s pay transparency law doesn’t cover promotions, internal transfers or public employees whose salary is set by a collective bargaining agreement.
Maryland
Since October 2020, Maryland’s Equal Pay for Equal Work initiative requires every employer to provide applicants with a position’s wage scale upon request. However, the state passed more salary transparency legislation that took effect in October 2024, which requires employers to post the following in every public job listing or internal posting:
- Pay range for the position.
- General description of included job benefits.
- Any other compensation for the position.
If a public or internal posting for a job wasn’t made, the employer must disclose this information before having a compensation discussion and anytime the applicant requests it. Furthermore, employers must keep records of compliance with these requirements for at least three years following a job being filled or following the job being posted if it was never filled.
Nevada
Senate Bill 293 went into effect on Oct. 1, 2021, requiring all Nevada employers to provide applicants with salary information for any role for which they interviewed. Furthermore, employers must provide a salary range or rate to any current employee seeking a promotion or internal transfer who has applied and interviewed for this role and requested this information.
New York
Since September 2023, New York employers with four or more workers must disclose salary ranges and a description for all advertised jobs, promotions or transfer opportunities. If compensation is based on commission, they must also disclose this information.
The same guidance applies to jobs that employees perform in New York or outside the state but report to a New York-based supervisor, office or worksite. However, it doesn’t apply to temporary help firms that hire employees to perform work for other employers.
Rhode Island
Rhode Island’s Pay Equity Act took effect in January 2023 and requires companies with at least one employee to disclose salary ranges to:
- Applicants by request and before discussing an offer.
- Employees at the time of hire or prior to moving to a new position.
- Current employees (by request).
Washington
The Revised Code of Washington 49.58.110 went into effect on Jan. 1, 2023, and requires employers with 15 or more employees to:
- Include salary ranges for all job postings.
- Describe all benefits and other compensation that will be offered to each employee hired.
- Disclose pay for internal job transfers and promotions at the employee’s request.
Regulations apply to recruitment performed directly by the employer or indirectly through a third party.
Details on what’s new in 2025
Illinois
Illinois House Bill 3129 amended the state’s Equal Pay Act of 2003. The amendment went into effect on Jan. 1, 2025, and requires employers with at least 15 workers to provide a wage scale for all job postings. The 15-employee threshold includes on-site employees and remote workers who perform work inside or outside the state but report to a supervisor or work site within the state.
Covered companies must also provide a general description of the benefits in their total compensation statement, including:
- Bonuses
- Stock options
- Other financial incentives
Additionally, within 14 days of making external job postings, these employers must post or announce them internally as promotion opportunities for current employees.
Employers must maintain records of their job postings, salary ranges and benefits for every position for at least five years.
Massachusetts
The Frances Perkins Workplace Equity Act, an expansion of the Massachusetts Equal Pay Act, takes effect on Oct. 29, 2025. This new legislation requires employers with 25 or more employees to disclose the pay range for all job postings. Pay disclosure also applies to promotions and transfers and allows employees to demand the pay range for their current position. Employers with 100 or more employees must submit annual wage data reports to the state.
Minnesota
Minnesota’s Omnibus Labor and Industry Policy bill, signed in May of 2024, includes pay transparency regulations that took effect on Jan. 1, 2025. This legislation requires employers with 30 or more employees to disclose a salary or hourly range on job postings based on a good faith estimate that’s not open-ended. If the employer isn’t offering a range, they must list a fixed rate for the posting. Employers must also provide a general description of the total compensation package, including health care and retirement benefits. However, this legislation doesn’t apply to remote employees who perform work outside the state.
New Jersey
New Jersey’s Pay Transparency Act goes into effect on June 1, 2025. It impacts employers with 10 or more employees over 20 calendar weeks who conduct business in New Jersey, employ individuals within New Jersey and accept applications for employment from within the state. Under this law, all external or internal job postings must include the pay range, annual benefits and any other forms of compensation. While this legislation does include job placement, referral and other employment agencies, it doesn’t include certain temporary help firms.
Vermont
Vermont’s H.B.704 pay transparency law takes effect on July 1, 2025, and includes employers with five or more employees. This law requires disclosure of the hourly wage or range of compensation for all postings of jobs either physically located in the state or that require remote employees to report to a location physically in the state.
Vermont doesn’t require employers to include a general description of benefits and other compensation in job postings. However, tipped roles must include the base salary and indicate that the remaining compensation is based on tips. Commission-based jobs are excluded from salary range requirements, but employers must disclose that compensation is partially or wholly based on commissions.
Which states currently don’t have any salary transparency laws?
As of May 2025, the 36 states that appear in the table below didn’t have any laws in place for salary transparency.
However, of the states on this list, the following 10 states have proposed pay transparency legislation similar to the existing laws described above:
Transparent salary data nationwide
For detailed salary information for healthcare jobs in every state, regardless of salary transparency laws, a jobs marketplace can help.
Vivian analyzed internal salary data based on actual jobs posted by health systems and staffing agencies over the last month to preview some of the highest-paying staff or travel healthcare jobs in various states across the nation.
The table below represents some of the highest-paying healthcare specialties in staff positions. Vivian ranked a list of 15 specialties from highest to lowest average weekly pay but skipped over staff roles in the same field to offer a wider variety.
Working in travel health care jobs requires you to be even more thoughtful when planning your finances. Travel nursing means duplicating housing costs and paying for travel expenses, making travel job salaries a pivotal factor in deciding your next move.
Compare the salaries for the highest-paying travel nursing jobs during the same period in various states below. Again, Vivian skipped over repeated specialties to provide a broader variety.
Take advantage of transparency in salary data
Salary transparency is reshaping recruitment and career decisions, with state-level wage transparency laws sweeping the nation over the last few years. These laws require employers to disclose pay ranges, effectively ending the decades-long practice of concealing compensation.
Some employers are reluctant to embrace salary transparency due to various perceived downsides, but it can often help them become more competitive and attract top talent. Wage transparency laws offer numerous perks for employees, such as pay equity, motivation to advance in your career, increased job satisfaction, streamlined salary negotiations and eliminating time wasted on jobs that don’t pay enough to meet your needs.
This story was produced by Vivian Health and reviewed and distributed by Stacker.
