The Work Week with Bassford Remele

March 25, 2024

Welcome to another edition of The Work Week with Bassford Remele. Each Monday morning, we will publish and send a new article to your inbox to hopefully assist you in jumpstarting your work week.

Bassford Remele Employment Practice Group

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Minnesota Lawmakers Propose Bill Requiring Salary Ranges in Job Postings

Bryce D. Riddle

Thinking of posting a job application to fill a vacant position at your company? Under a proposal being discussed by Minnesota lawmakers, employers may soon be required to post a “salary range” in the posting.

The proposed change to Minnesota law, authored by Rep. Kristin Bahner (DFL- Maple Grove), would require an employer with 30 or more employees to include the starting salary range and a general description of benefits (or other compensation) for any job posting, whether printed or electronic. The “salary range” would be defined in law as “the minimum and maximum annual salary or hourly range of compensation for a job opportunity of the employer at the time of the posting of an advertisement for such opportunity.”

The stated purpose of the bill is aimed at boosting pay equity as the gender wage gap persists. This pay transparency push comes as a recent report found that, on average, women in Minnesota make $0.81 for every $1.00 a white male makes, even decades after the Equal Pay Act was passed by Congress and signed into law in 1963. The gender pay gap widens for women of color, according to that data.

Supporters of the bill say that mandating disclosure of salary in the first stage of the hiring process could help fix this discrepancy, and point to research indicating that pay transparency is linked to higher job satisfaction, meaning people are less likely to leave where they work for another job. Currently, 31 other states have smaller gender wage gaps than Minnesota.

The proposal has been formally laid over for consideration in a larger collection of bills, known as an omnibus bill. Its companion bill currently awaits hearing in the Senate Labor Committee. As more developments arise on this issue, Bassford Remele will provide additional updates.

At Bassford Remele, we have extensive experience advising employers on new and changing laws, regulations, and ordinances from the federal level to the local level. Please reach out to the Employment Law practice group for guidance, questions, or further assistance. We are here to help.

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The Work Week with Bassford Remele, 3-25-24 (print version)

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Bassford Remele | March 25, 2024