Tuesday, May 9, 2023

Chair Jehlen, Chair Cutler, and Members of the Joint Committee on Labor and Workforce Development:

My name is Jonathan Cohn, and I am the policy director at Progressive Massachusetts. We are a statewide, multi-issue, grassroots membership organization focused on fighting for policy that would make our Commonwealth more equitable, just, sustainable, and democratic.

We urge the committee to give a favorable report to the following bills: 

H.1849/S.1191: An Act relative to salary range transparency / An Act relative to pay range disclosure

H.1940/S.1181: An Act relative to transparency in the workplace

These bills would build on past progress toward gender and racial equity in Massachusetts workplaces. 

The first set of bills would require employers to disclose salary ranges to employees who ask for them when hiring for positions, and the latter set would require companies and municipalities to submit their federally required EEOC data to the Massachusetts Secretary of State’s office. This information would then be combined with statewide figures to provide aggregate and accurate reports of the wage gaps within various business sectors that can be seen and understood both by workers and employers.

Transparency is essential to closing persistent gender and racial pay inequities. If we can’t identify the existence and extent of disparities within and across industries, it is difficult to make and track progress. We cannot change what we do not measure.

Moreover, studies have repeatedly shown the importance of pay range transparency to enabling prospective employees to better negotiate for fair compensation. 

California, Colorado, Connecticut, Maryland, Nevada, New York, Rhode Island, and Washington have all already passed pay range disclosure laws. For Massachusetts to have a competitive and equitable economy, we should join them.

Sincerely, 

Jonathan Cohn 

Policy Director 

Progressive Massachusetts