No Salary Guessing Games: How Pay Transparency Is Changing the Job Search
Pay transparency gives you clearer visibility into how much a job pays—so you’re not navigating the hiring process without key information. In states with these laws, employers may have to share salary ranges upfront or upon request, helping you quickly decide if a role is worth pursuing, avoid undervalued offers, and negotiate from a stronger position.
As of 2026, about 16 states plus Washington, D.C., have pay transparency laws on the books, and that number has been rising quickly in recent years. What started in a few early states has turned into a broader nationwide trend, meaning more job listings now include salary ranges—and fewer surprises late in the hiring process. For job seekers, that translates to a more efficient search and better leverage when discussing compensation.
These laws also provide protection. In New York, for example, employers must disclose a “good faith” salary range and cannot retaliate against you for asking about pay. That means you can raise compensation questions with confidence—and if an employer fails to comply, it may signal a legal issue worth exploring.
Faruqi & Faruqi, LLP focuses on complex civil litigation, including securities, antitrust, wage and hour and consumer class actions as well as shareholder derivative and merger and transactional litigation. The firm is headquartered in New York, and maintains offices in Atlanta, Los Angeles and Philadelphia.
Since its founding in 1995, Faruqi & Faruqi, LLP has served as lead or co-lead counsel in numerous high-profile cases which ultimately provided significant recoveries to investors, direct purchasers, consumers and employees.
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Kathryn Hettler is an Associate in Faruqi & Faruqi’s New York office. Kathryn’s practice is focused on employment litigation.
