Pay Transparency Laws by State and Province (2026): What Job Postings Must Show

How to use this pay transparency law table

Employee thresholds are not interchangeable. A law may count all employees, only local employees, or people whose primary work location is local. An ATS board does not establish that count. Confirm the employer entity, employee-count method, local presence, posting date and actual work location before deciding coverage.

A range can be present but still be incomplete. Some laws also require benefits, other compensation or a job description. A numeric check cannot prove that a range is set in good faith. The table summarizes posting requirements rather than the full employment-law regime.

Dates identify the initial posting obligation unless noted. The current requirement may include later amendments. “No numerical cutoff” does not eliminate statutory employer definitions, exemptions or territorial limits.

US states, cities and Canadian provinces: active posting rules

Additional effective-date evidence: Colorado rulemaking basis, Maine DOL notice, PEI 2022 guide and BC statute. The Jersey City five-person threshold comes from a later amendment; do not attach that amended threshold to every historic posting.

Future dates and deferred enforcement

The Actor stores Columbus with a January 1, 2027 application date and Delaware with September 26, 2027. It does not apply those posting flags before those dates. For Columbus, distinguish the enacted obligation from the separately deferred enforcement date.

Remote jobs, Ontario exceptions and EU pay information

A remote label is insufficient for a legal decision. New York State includes certain jobs outside the state reporting to a New York supervisor, office or worksite; Illinois has a similar reporting nexus. Check eligible work locations and reporting lines rather than equating “Remote US” with every state. Sources: New York Department of Labor: pay transparency and Illinois Department of Labor: posting FAQ.

Ontario's compensation exception uses “more than” CAD 200,000 annually. A maximum of exactly CAD 200,000 does not meet that high-pay exception. Regulation 476/24 limits an ordinary disclosed annual range spread to CAD 50,000. Other pay periods need a justified annual-equivalent calculation, not a guessed working-hours multiplier. See Ontario Regulation 476/24.

Ontario also requires disclosure of AI use to screen, assess or select applicants when applicable, a statement about an existing vacancy, and no Canadian-experience requirement. The salary Actor does not audit all of these duties. Retention and post-interview communication rules need a separate process. Ontario: publicly advertised job posting requirements describes them.

The EU Pay Transparency Directive set June 7, 2026 as the transposition deadline. Article 5 provides for applicants to receive initial pay or its range, based on objective gender-neutral criteria, and relevant collective-agreement provisions where applicable. Information can be provided through a vacancy notice, before interview or otherwise to support informed negotiation. This is not a blanket claim that every EU job ad must contain a range. Check national implementation. EU Directive 2023/970, Articles 5 and 34.

Turn the table into a posting review

Create a worksheet with employer entity, posting URL, first-seen date, eligible work locations, reporting office, employee-count evidence, applicable source/version, posted pay, benefits and reviewer decision. Leave unresolved coverage as unknown. Record separate reasons for missing pay, open-ended pay and incomplete benefits.

posting_url,observed_at,work_locations,employer_count_evidence,rule_source,pay_evidence,benefits_evidence,reviewer,decision
https://example.com/jobs/42,2026-10-22T12:00:00Z,"Toronto ON",pending,Ontario ESA,pending,pending,unassigned,needs_review

Follow the practical salary audit workflow to pull public API data and preserve evidence. Treat this sample row as a worksheet template, not a finding about a real employer.

The Pay Transparency Job Auditor extracts structured pay and optionally scans description text, then flags location-based signals. Employer size, reporting lines, benefits, exemptions and good faith still require review. A range_ok_signal is not a compliance verdict.

Coverage limits and source verification

This is a maintained subset. Omission of a state, province or municipality does not mean no law applies. Local New York rules are not fully covered. Disclosure-on-request or interview-stage duties should not be mistaken for posting mandates. Newfoundland and Labrador's posting provisions are marked not in force in its consolidated Act and are not listed as active here: Newfoundland and Labrador: Pay Equity and Pay Transparency Act.

Some official documents resisted direct automated retrieval. Connecticut's current posting requirement and October 1, 2026 date were corroborated in the legislature's own 2026 Acts Affecting Business and Jobs report. Colorado and EU details were cross-checked using official indexed text where direct files were blocked. Use the primary-source links for the controlling text, and obtain advice for a coverage decision.

No claim is made here that every EU member state completed transposition. The Actor's EU entry is informational: check national law. A not_covered tool result means no mandatory rule in its subset matched, not that a posting is lawful.

Frequently asked questions

Does every US state require salary in a job ad?

This guide covers selected posting laws, not every state or municipality. Other jurisdictions may require disclosure at a different stage. Check the official authority for the specific location.

Do remote jobs fall under pay transparency laws?

They can. Eligible work location, employer presence and reporting lines can matter. A remote label alone cannot determine coverage.

Does Ontario allow a CAD 60,000-wide pay range?

For an ordinary covered posting without the high-pay exemption, the annual range spread cannot exceed CAD 50,000. Check annual equivalence and the exemption in Regulation 476/24.

Did June 7, 2026 create one EU-wide job-ad template?

No. It was the directive transposition deadline. Review national law and Article 5 pre-employment information requirements.