Changes are coming for many Washington companies on January 1, 2023. For companies with more than 15 employees that do business in Washington or recruit remote employees in Washington, they'll have to include the wage scale and salary range for the role in job listings. This must include minimum and maximum amounts, so it won't be acceptable to use language like "starting at 40,000 and up" or the like.
This move toward increased disclosure and transparency in Washington is ushered in by the Equal Pay and Opportunities Act.
This change in the law is likely to have a significant impact on Washington's tech sector, where companies like Amazon, Microsoft, and Meta compete to hire top talent. Requiring these companies and others like them to publicly disclose salary ranges in job listings is sure to make it easier to discover how competitors are approaching compensation.
This could have a ripple effect on startups as well, which are also competing with big tech companies to recruit top talent. Startups of course can't usually offer salaries that are competitive with big tech, but instead compete by offering upside in the form of equity in the startup. If startups have a clearer understanding of salary ranges at big tech companies, it could be easier to craft total compensation packages (i.e., salary, equity, and other benefits) designed to compete with big tech companies.
