On January 12, 2024, the District of Columbia amended the Pay Transparency Act of 2014, joining a growing list of states, counties, and localities to implement pay transparency laws.
Employers with at least one employee in the District of Columbia are subject to the requirements of the new law. Covered employers are required to disclose, in all job postings, the salary or hourly pay range that the employer “in good faith believes at the time of posting it would pay for the advertised job, promotion, or transfer opportunity.”
Employers also must inform applicants of available healthcare benefits prior to their first interview.
D.C. Act 25-367 also extends to private employers the 2017 law prohibiting DC government agencies from asking applicants to disclose their wage history.
Covered employers are required to post a notice in the workplace informing employees of their rights under the new law. Although not stated in the Act, employers with remote workers should make the notice available electronically on the company intranet or where other employment policies and important notices are posted.
Enforcement and Potential Costs of Noncompliance
The DC Attorney General is authorized to investigate alleged violations of the Act and, if necessary, to bring civil actions against non-compliant employers for restitution or injunctive, compensatory, or other relief.
Are you Compliance Ready?
DC Employers should take the following actions prior to July 1, 2024:
- Reformat job posting templates to include the good faith minimum and maximum projected salary or hourly wage for all positions in DC.
- Implement a policy prohibiting managers and Human Resources and Compensation professionals from asking applicants about their prior pay.
- Update the company’s compensation policy, if necessary.
- Review job descriptions to ensure they reflect the current duties of the position and level of responsibility.
- Confirm that all positions are assigned to the correct pay grade and/or level within the compensation system.
- Prepare FAQs and other training materials for managers and members of the compensation team.
- Implement a practice to ensure that all applicants are informed of available healthcare benefits prior to their first interview.
- Provide notice to employees of their rights under this law in at least one conspicuous place where employees gather. The Act does not include the required text for the notice. While it is likely that the Office of Human Rights will publish a poster, employer should be prepared to create their own notice, which should include at least the following points:
- Employees are permitted to inquire about, disclose, compare, or otherwise discuss their own compensation or the compensation of another employee.
- Employees will not be discharged, disciplined, adversely affected or otherwise retaliate against because they inquired about or discussed their own pay or the compensation of another employee.
- Employees will not be retaliated against for lodging a complaint, testifying, assisting, or participating in an investigation or proceeding relating to a violation of this law.
Should you have any questions regarding this alert, please contact PintoBrown.
