Shortly before adjourning for the year, the Massachusetts legislature passed H 4890. Among other things, the law will require covered employers to disclose the pay range for any job postings and advertisements.
Led by Massachusetts lobbyists Tara O’Donnell and Roger Donaghue—and alongside representatives of the Massachusetts Staffing Association, an ASA-affiliated chapter—industry representatives met with key legislators to express concerns with the legislation as drafted.
The main concern was that the bill failed to consider that staffing agencies advertise jobs differently than most employers. Most employers hire for a specific current job opening, but staffing agencies often advertise for candidates who are generally qualified for a position (e.g., administrative assistant) without reference to a particular job. The purpose is to fill their pools of qualified applicants for potential job openings that may arise in the future. In such cases, no meaningful salary range can be given.
Lawmakers accepted the industry’s argument and amened the bill to require disclosure of pay ranges only for advertisements or job postings “for a particular and specific employment position.”
The law also requires covered employers to file an Employment Information Report (EEO–1), which they are required to submit annually to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, with the department of the Secretary of the Commonwealth. Staffing agencies must file EEO-1 reports only if they have 100 or more internal employees (50 or more for certain federal contractors). Under longstanding EEOC guidance, temporary employees can be excluded from the report and from the staffing agency’s headcount in determining whether it meets the 100 (or 50) employee threshold.
The salary disclosure provision of the law goes into effect July 31, 2025. Covered employers required to file EEO-1 reports must submit them to the state secretary no later than Feb. 1, 2025.
