On May 17, 2024, Minnesota’s governor signed legislation (SF 3852) that will require employers with 30 or more employees at one or more sites in Minnesota to disclose salary, other compensation and benefits information in job postings.
The revisions take effect Jan. 1, 2025, and will make Minnesota the eighth state (and Washington, DC) to require pay disclosures in job postings.
Beginning Jan. 1, 2024, Minnesota prohibited inquiries into the pay history of job applicants.
Highlights
Employer defined.
“Employer” means a person or entity that employs 30 or more employees at one or more sites in Minnesota and includes an individual, corporation, partnership, association, nonprofit organization, group of persons, state, county, town, city, school district, or other governmental subdivision.
Disclosure.
Employers shall disclose in each posting for each job opening the starting salary range, and a general description of all additional compensation and benefits, including but not limited to any health or retirement benefits, to be offered to a new hire.
An employer that does not plan to offer a salary range for a position must list a fixed pay rate. A salary range may not be open ended.
Posting defined.
A “posting” is any solicitation intended to recruit job applicants for a specific available position, including recruitment done directly by an employer or indirectly through a third party, and includes any postings made electronically or via printed copy, that include qualifications for desired candidates.
Salary range defined.
A “salary range” is the minimum and maximum annual salary or hourly range of compensation based on the employer’s good faith estimate at the time the job is posted.
Pay transparency expanding to opportunity transparency
Minnesota’s pay transparency requirements are not effective until Jan. 1, 2025, but several states have enacted legislation requiring the disclosure of salary ranges and pay data in recent years.
For example, in New York an employer, employment agency, employee or agent thereof must include compensation or the compensation range when advertising a job, promotion or transfer opportunity that will physically (at least in part) be performed in New York. California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Nevada, Rhode Island, Washington and Washington, DC, also require, or will require, employers to disclose — voluntarily or upon request — information about salary ranges for open positions or promotions. Other states, such as Massachusetts, are considering similar legislation.
In addition to states requiring disclosure of pay ranges, states such as Colorado are focused on increasing the visibility of job opportunities to employees and candidates. In addition to including pay information on postings, they want to ensure potential candidates are aware of such postings.
For more information, please refer to the Roundup: US employer resources on states’ recent equal pay laws.
Next steps
Assess readiness: review the compensation foundation for the following
- Are jobs clearly defined?
- Is pay aligned to pay philosophy and market?
- Has the organization’s pay equity been analyzed?
- Are managers equipped to communicate pay ranges?
Set your destination: address key questions around where you’re headed
- What will be shared (e.g., what elements of pay and total rewards)?
- Who will it be shared with — all employees, managers only, certain segments, only to candidates?
- How will it be shared?
Plan for the journey: address gaps and risks in your current environment
- Job structures
- Gaps in pay equity and competitiveness
- Talent acquisition and employee communication technology
- Manager education and resources
Share the story: address gaps and risks in the current environment
- Job structures
- Gaps in pay equity and competitiveness
- Talent acquisition and employee communication technology
- Manager education and resources
Measure the impact: assess success through data and insights
- Applicants per opening, time to fill, offer acceptance rates
- Candidate surveys
- Employee engagement and perceptions
- Statistical modeling around turnover and other outcomes
Synergy HR is here to help
Synergy HR is experienced in developing strategies for compliance with pay transparency principles and can help review employer practices ahead of this new law.
Synergy HR’s compensation analysts are also available to assist in creating appropriate salary ranges, compensation benchmarks, job evaluations and comp surveys.
Contact us to discuss in more detail.
The New Year is coming fast. Is your Employee Handbook ready for it?
Like it or not, recent federal and state law changes, regulatory changes and precedent-setting federal case law have necessitated the updating of your policies, procedures and forms.
And these required updates apply to employers of all sizes.
These revisions should be in place by January 1, 2025.
Synergy Human Resources is available to help so that your policies, procedures and forms are updated and compliant in time for the New Year.
