Navigating pay-transparency compliance for small businesses

Pay-transparency laws are expanding quickly across the U.S., and small businesses are increasingly in scope, often sooner than owners expect. Because many rules attach to job postings (not just offers), a single ad can create compliance risk in multiple jurisdictions, especially when remote work or reporting lines cross state borders.

The good news is that pay-transparency compliance is operationally manageable if you treat it like a repeatable process: define a pay range, define what counts as benefits and “other compensation,” choose where and how you post roles, and keep simple records. Below is a practical roadmap grounded in recent state requirements and agency guidance.

1) Why pay-transparency compliance now matters for small businesses

Pay transparency is no longer limited to large employers. Several states use relatively low employee-count thresholds, New York at 4+ employees (effective 09/17/2023) and Vermont at 5+ employees (effective 07/01/2025), meaning a “small” team can still be legally required to publish pay information in job ads.

The compliance trigger is often the act of posting itself. If you publish a role publicly (or even internally, depending on the state), you may need to include a salary range, an hourly range, and sometimes benefits and “other compensation” such as bonuses or commissions.

For small businesses, the biggest challenge is consistency. A range in one channel (your website) and a missing range on another (a job board that scraped your post) can create confusion. New York City Council analysis of 60,000+ unique postings found “thousands” missing ranges, often due to scraping-driven platform issues, evidence that operational details, not intent, frequently drive noncompliance.

2) Map your coverage: employee-count thresholds and where the work is performed

Start with an “applicability map” that combines (a) your count and (b) the work location, or where the job is considered to be performed. Thresholds vary widely: Vermont 5+, New York State 4+, Illinois and Washington 15+, Massachusetts 25+, and Hawaii 50+.

Even if your company is quartered in one state, postings can be covered elsewhere based on where the role will be performed. Some states also cover internal solicitations (like promotions or transfers), so a role that never hits a public job board can still trigger disclosure duties.

Remote work adds a major wrinkle. New York’s Labor Law §194-b (effective 09/17/2023) can apply not only to jobs performed “at least in part” in New York, but also to certain out-of-state remote roles that report to a New York supervisor, office, or worksite, meaning your “remote anywhere” job ad may need a New York-compliant range.

3) Build compliant pay ranges: avoid “open-ended” numbers and define min/max

Many laws and agency guides expect a true range, both a minimum and a maximum, rather than a vague statement. Washington’s guidance is especially direct: compliant postings should not rely on open-ended language like “and up” or “up to” without providing both ends of the range.

Maryland’s approach is similarly clear. Its requirements (effective 10/01/2024) call for a wage range with a minimum and maximum, plus a general description of benefits and any other compensation. Maryland’s guidance also provides examples of “other compensation” to consider, such as overtime, differentials, premium pay, commissions, bonuses, and stock/options.

Practically, small businesses can implement ranges without building a complex pay architecture. Use a simple method: decide the hiring range you can realistically offer today (min), the top of the role’s budget with strong experience (max), and document the factors that move someone within the range (skills, years of experience, certifications, location adjustments, or shift differentials).

4) Know what must be disclosed beyond base pay: benefits and “other compensation”

Not all states stop at base pay. New Jersey’s forthcoming law (effective 06/01/2025) requires covered employers (generally 10+ employees over 20 weeks) to disclose hourly wage/salary (or a range) plus general benefits and “other compensation programs” in postings for new jobs and transfers. It also requires reasonable efforts to notify current employees of promotional opportunities.

Washington requires job postings to include the wage scale or salary range plus a general description of all benefits and other compensation. Washington’s agency guidance gives template-ready examples: benefits can include PTO, healthcare, and retirement; “other compensation” can include bonuses, commissions, and equity/stock options.

If you want a scalable drafting habit, create a standard “Benefits & Other Compensation” paragraph you can paste into postings, then tailor it by role. You typically don’t need to list every plan document detail, focus on categories (medical, dental, vision, retirement match, paid leave, bonus eligibility, commission plan, equity eligibility) and keep the language consistent across channels.

5) State-by-state snapshots: what small employers should prioritize

New York State (4+ employees; effective 09/17/2023): NY Labor Law §194-b requires a compensation range (minimum and maximum annual salary or hourly wage) in job advertisements and disclosure of whether the job is commission-based. Coverage includes jobs performed at least in part in New York and certain remote roles that report to a New York supervisor/office/worksite.

Maryland (effective 10/01/2024): Postings must include min/max pay range, a general description of benefits, and any other compensation. Maryland’s FAQ also notes a practical carve-out: employers are not responsible for third-party sites that repost or scrape a posting without the employer’s consent.

Illinois (15+ employees; effective 01/01/2025) and Washington (15+ employees): Illinois guidance indicates that employers who choose to make specific job postings must include pay scale/compensation and benefits for Illinois-related roles. Washington requires the wage scale/range plus benefits and other compensation and cautions against open-ended ranges.

Vermont (5+ employees; effective 07/01/2025): Vermont’s statute (21 V.S.A. §495p) requires job ads to include compensation or a range. It has special rules for commission roles (disclose commission-based pay) and tipped roles (disclose the tipped basis and base wage or base-wage range).

Hawaii (50+ employees; effective 01/01/2024) and Massachusetts (25+; effective 10/29/2025): Hawaii requires external job listings to disclose an hourly rate or salary range (with certain exclusions). Massachusetts will require pay ranges in postings and in specified situations upon request; the state also outlines penalties and a 2-business-day “notice to cure” window (with a cure period noted through 10/29/2027).

6) Postings are broader than you think: don’t overlook “informal” recruiting

Small businesses often recruit through lightweight channels, social media posts, community flyers, email blasts, or a quick “we’re hiring” message sent to multiple contacts. Maryland’s FAQ is particularly helpful because it explicitly lists common media that can qualify as covered solicitations (internal and external), helping employers avoid the mistake of thinking only formal job-board ads count.

To reduce risk, centralize job ads. Draft the compliant posting once, then copy it everywhere you publish it. If you allow managers to “freestyle” hiring posts on LinkedIn or in local groups, you increase the chance that a required range or benefits description is omitted.

Also consider platform behavior. The NYC Council’s analysis highlights that scraping and reposting can lead to missing salary information on job search platforms. Even where a jurisdiction offers some protection for unauthorized scraping (Maryland’s carve-out), the business impact remains: candidates may see inconsistent information unless you monitor where your ads appear.

7) Make Colorado your operational anchor: transparency, process, and recordkeeping

If you hire in multiple states, it helps to choose a “highest common denominator” playbook. Colorado’s Equal Pay for Equal Work Act is often used as an anchor because it couples compensation disclosure with benefits disclosure, internal opportunity transparency, and recordkeeping expectations.

Operationally, that means treating every posting as a compliance artifact: it should include compensation, benefits, and clear instructions on how/when to apply. Separately, keep records that support the posting (for example, how you determined the range and the job description you used), so you can answer questions consistently.

Even if Colorado is not your primary market, adopting a Colorado-style workflow helps you scale. Once your templates and approvals are built around more robust requirements, adapting to state-specific differences (like tipped-role language in Vermont or commission disclosures in New York) becomes a matter of small edits rather than reinventing your process.

8) A small-business compliance workflow you can implement this month

Step 1: Create a posting template. Include fields for: job title, location/remote expectations, min/max base pay (hourly or salary), commission/bonus eligibility, general benefits, other compensation (equity, differentials), and application instructions.

Step 2: Define your ranges internally. Decide who approves ranges (owner, finance, HR), how you document the basis (budget, market data, internal equity), and how you handle geography or shift premiums. Washington’s warning against “open-ended” ranges is a useful rule of thumb: always publish both ends.

Step 3: Control distribution and monitor reposts. Publish from a single source of truth (your ATS or careers page) and syndicate outward. Periodically spot-check major job platforms for scraped copies missing ranges, an issue documented in the NYC Council’s analysis, and correct what you can by updating the source or contacting the platform when appropriate.

Pay-transparency compliance doesn’t have to be overwhelming, but it does require small businesses to be deliberate. The core pattern is consistent across states: share a real pay range, describe benefits and other compensation where required, and treat remote-work and multi-state hiring as built-in compliance triggers rather than edge cases.

By building a simple applicability map (thresholds plus work location/reporting lines), standardizing a posting template, and avoiding common pitfalls like open-ended ranges or informal postings without disclosures, you can meet today’s requirements and be better prepared for the next wave, such as New Jersey (06/01/2025), Illinois (01/01/2025), Vermont (07/01/2025), and Massachusetts (10/29/2025).