Washington State issued its remaining administrative coverage offering the state’s interpretation of the Equal Pay and Opportunities Act, which took impact on Jan. 1. The legislation supplies that employers should disclose in every posting for every job opening the wage scale or wage vary and a normal description of all advantages and different compensation to be supplied.The steerage takes an expansive view of which employers are coated by the legislation and requires job postings to comprise pay and advantages info past what’s required by another state or locality that has enacted pay transparency laws.The legislation applies to all employers “participating in any enterprise, business, occupation, or exercise in Washington” and for any job postings “that recruit Washington based mostly staff.” This consists of employers that wouldn’t have a bodily presence in Washington, if they’ve a number of Washington-based staff or in the event that they interact in enterprise in Washington or recruit for jobs that might be crammed by a Washington-based worker, together with distant jobs. This is a broader interpretation of jurisdiction than Colorado or New York City, for instance, the place employers should have not less than one worker bodily working from that location earlier than an employer is roofed. The legislation doesn’t apply to jobs to be carried out fully exterior Washington or to printed hard-copy postings made and distributed fully exterior Washington. According to the steerage, an employer can not keep away from the responsibility to adjust to Washington’s wage and wage disclosure necessities by indicating inside a posting that the employer is not going to settle for Washington candidates. Job Posting RequirementsTo qualify as a job posting, an commercial should record the precise place and {qualifications}. A social media publish that reads “Manufacturing jobs obtainable, apply now on-line. Weekend shifts required” is just not a job posting as a result of it doesn’t embrace {qualifications} or reference a particular place for a desired applicant. On the opposite hand, an digital reader board exterior a enterprise that reads, “Help Wanted- Server. Food Handler’s Certification Needed. Offering: $24.00-$26.00 per hour, medical advantages, 70 trip hours per yr, and $500 sign-on bonus” is taken into account a job posting.The requirement to supply a “wage scale or wage vary” means the employer should present candidates with its “most affordable and usually anticipated vary of compensation for the job.” A wage scale should not be open-ended, have to be decided earlier than the job is posted, with the job posting up to date if the size modifications, and, if there’s a beginning vary, each the beginning vary and normal vary have to be included in the posting. If an individual is obtainable a place completely different from the place utilized for, the employer might supply a wage particular to the place supplied, reasonably than the place posted, however ought to present a duplicate of a compliant posting for the place supplied.Washington joins Colorado in requiring employers to supply a normal description of advantages for the place. This should embrace well being care advantages, retirement advantages, any advantages allowing paid days off, and another advantages that have to be reported for federal tax functions. But whereas Colorado employers might comply by offering a laundry record of advantages with out additional description, Washington would require extra element:Retirement Plans: If an employer consists of varied retirement choices as a part of the advantages package deal, the employer ought to record the retirement choices in the job posting, equivalent to 401(okay), employer-funded retirement plans, deferred compensation, and different defined-benefit or defined-contribution plans.Paid Time Off or Vacation: If the employer consists of paid day off or paid trip time as a part of the advantages package deal, the employer ought to record the variety of days or hours the employed applicant would anticipate to obtain, equivalent to 8 hours per 30 days or 12 days per yr.Paid Holidays: The employer ought to record in the job posting the variety of paid holidays the employed applicant would anticipate to obtain, equivalent to 10 paid holidays per yr. The employer doesn’t must determine every paid vacation.More Generous Paid Sick Leave: If the employer features a paid sick depart coverage that’s extra beneficiant than that required by Washington State legislation or any native ordinance that applies to the advantages package deal, the employer ought to record the variety of hours per 30 days or days per yr the employed applicant would anticipate to obtain in the job posting that’s better than Washington State legislation or any native ordinance, equivalent to 3 hours of paid sick depart for each 40 hours labored or 8 hours of paid sick depart per 30 days.As with wage ranges, the posting needs to be up to date if this advantages info modifications after posting.Per the executive coverage, “different compensation” consists of, however is just not restricted to, bonuses, commissions, profit-sharing, inventory choices, or different types of compensation that may be supplied to the employed applicant in addition to their established wage vary or wage scale. Washington would require employers to supply extra info than different jurisdictions do about two forms of different compensation: commissions and piece-rate pay.If a job is compensated by fee charges, the executive coverage states that the employer ought to embrace the speed or vary of charges that will probably be supplied to the employed applicant. While many firms’ fee plans are way more difficult than this, Washington has not offered any extra steerage about what would represent adequate element in these circumstances.If a job is compensated by piece-rate, the employer ought to embrace the agreed piece fee, e.g., “$0.55-$0.75 per pound of strawberries picked.” For different non-base compensation, it seems extra element is just not required.Although Washington will enable the usage of a hyperlink on distant postings to incorporate extra detailed descriptions of advantages and different compensation, the posting itself should embrace a normal description of advantages and different compensation.What are the subsequent steps?Employers ought to put together pay vary, compensation, and different advantages info for jobs that may be carried out in Washington that they anticipate posting in early 2023, together with specifics on commission-based and piece-rate pay, in addition to the forms of paid day off supplied. Employers ought to add the required info to current postings or take them down, together with any postings made at their course by a 3rd celebration.Jennifer S. Harpole and Lukasz Gilewski are attorneys with Littler in Denver. © 2022. All rights reserved. Reprinted with permission.
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Washington State Issues Final Policy on Pay Transparency in Job Postings
