Minnesota’s new pay transparency law took effect earlier this year. However, with a number of new employment laws enacted in recent years, the pay transparency law has been lost in the shuffle for many companies. Below are the three most-asked questions we receive about the new law.

Which employers are covered under the new law?
The pay transparency law does not apply to all Minnesota employers. Rather, it applies only to employers with 30 or more employees at one or more sites in Minnesota. The law is silent as to whether or how it applies to remote positions that can be performed outside of Minnesota.

What does the law require?
When posting for open positions, covered employers are required to include the starting salary range and a general description of benefits and other compensation as part of the posting.

The new law defines “salary range” as the minimum and maximum annual salary or hourly range of compensation, based upon the employer’s good faith estimate of those ranges at the time of the posting. Employers may not use an open-ended salary range. Finally, if a covered employer does not plan to use or offer a salary range, the employer must list a fixed pay rate for the posted position.

In addition to the salary range, covered employers must provide a general description of all offered benefits for the position. This includes health or retirement benefits. The law does not address what types of bonuses, if any, may be considered “other compensation” which would need to be disclosed.

What types of “job postings” must include the required information?

The law broadly defines a “posting” as “any solicitation intended to recruit job applicants for a specific available position” that includes qualifications for desired applicants. This applies to both external and internal-facing job postings, as well as electronic and printed documents. The law specifically applies to both postings by an employer and third parties like staffing agencies.

Next Steps for Employers

If not already done, covered employers need to work with their hiring managers and human resource personnel to make sure their job postings are compliant. Additionally, covered employers must ensure any of their third-party vendors, such as staffing agencies, are in compliance with the new law.