Employment Law ALERT – New Job Posting Requirements Begin January 1, 2023
Posted on December 20, 2022 by James Blankenship
Beginning on January 1, 2023, all employers, with 15 or more employees (including employees in other states), engaging in any business, industry, profession, or activity in Washington (including recruiting for Washington-based employees) must disclose (i) a wage scale or salary range and (ii) a general description of benefits and other compensation on job postings that recruit Washington based employees. Job postings include any solicitation intended to recruit job applicants for a specific available position that includes qualifications for desired applicants. This does not include a general help wanted sign or post. For example, if you posted on a social media page “Now Hiring – Entry Level Customer Service Positions” this is not a “posting” for purposes of Washington law. However, if you posted “Now Hiring – Senior Customer Service Manager, 5 years of experience required, $45-$50/hr + benefits [Link to Benefits]“ this would be a job posting and all of the requirements discussed below would be required.
A wage scale or salary range should provide the applicant with the most reasonable and genuinely expected range of compensation for the job. The range should extend from the lowest to the highest pay established prior to publishing the job posting. A scale or range’s minimum and maximum should be clear without open-ended phrases such as “$60,000/per year and up” (with no top of the range), or “up to $29.00/hour” (with no bottom of the scale). If you intend to implement a “starting range” or “starting rate” for an initial timeframe of employment or probationary period, the starting range or rate may be listed on the posting but the entire scale or range must also be listed on the posting.
A “general description of all benefits” includes, but is not limited to:
- medical insurance (including dental and vision) and other health care benefits;
- disability insurance;
- retirement benefits (specifying 401k, pension, deferred compensation, etc.);
- benefits permitting paid days off (including more generous paid sick leave accruals, parental leave, and paid time off or vacation benefits) and should include the number of days or rate of accrual, the number of paid holidays;
- any other benefits that must be reported for federal tax purposes, such as fringe benefits.
For electronic job postings, you must include a general description of benefits and other compensation but may choose to utilize a link to lead the applicant to a more detailed description.
If you have any questions about the new requirements please contact our Employment team.
