Litigation exposes flaws in Washington pay law
WASHINGTON, UNITED STATES — Less than a year after Washington enacted a pay transparency law requiring employers to disclose salary and benefit details in job ads, lawsuits have exposed flaws in the law’s implementation.
The pay transparency law, effective January 2023, mandates companies with over 15 employees list wage and benefit information in all Washington job postings. The goal was to help close the gender pay gap.
However, even before the law went into effect, some employers had warned that it could limit flexibility in making job offers and potentially spark litigation. Those concerns have proven true, as one Seattle attorney has filed 31 lawsuits since June accusing various companies of failing to comply, according to Seattle Times.
The attorney’s firm had previously published a blog encouraging job seekers to report non-compliance, noting the law provides for a $5,000 payout, which has led to a spike in lawsuits.
Similar concerns arose with a 2004 California law allowing private rights of action, which a 2021 report found often yielded smaller payouts for workers compared to state resolutions, despite lower overall costs.
Previously, Harvard Business Review discussed how salary transparency promotes fair and equitable workplaces, and how it allows employees to better gauge their market value, among others.
