WAGE EQUITY NOW
Closing the raw wage gaps by 2030
The Wage Equity Now Coalition is thrilled that on August 6, 2024, Governor Maura Healey signed the Frances Perkins Workplace Equity Act (H.4109) into law. This legislation requires employers of a certain size to provide salary ranges when hiring for a position and requires employers to share their EEOC data to help aggregate gender and racial pay gaps within certain business sectors. Starting in 2025, this law will provide the transparency needed to address racial and gender pay gaps and will attract and retain quality talent here in Massachusetts. As the legislation is implemented, we look forward to continuing our working relationship with the business community as feedback is collected and results from the law become available.
Now that the bill has been signed, review our FAQs to know what to expect now.
According to the Boston Women’s Workforce Council, Greater Boston employers’ wage gaps have actually increased from $.23 to $.30 cents since 2013 for all women; while Black and Hispanic women earned $.49 and $.45 respectively compared to white men.
It is far past time to change the approach and require transparency and reporting at the company level.
In addition to requiring average compensation information by gender, race, and ethnicity, this bill also takes aim at requiring companies to tell applicants the salary range of the position they’re applying. This will level the playing field for women who are so often underrepresented at the top of the corporate ladder.
Visibility = accountability
By publicly reporting our wage and salary range, we’re responding to the call for action, creating a lever for change, and making progress toward gender and racial equity.