States Put New Spin on Pay Gap Laws With Promotion Transparency

As a growing share of US companies are forced to tell job applicants and employees upfront how much they’ll pay for work, lawmakers are beginning to ask them to be equally transparent about opportunities to get a promotion.

Illinois legislators included so-called opportunity transparency when enacting this year’s pay equity law, which takes effect in 2025, and Colorado’s legislature beefed up requirements for next year to insist employers be more forthcoming on information about promotions. New Jersey has a similar provision in pending legislation.

“If people are not aware of opportunities then they would be ...