{"id":3421,"date":"2023-02-27T14:10:54","date_gmt":"2023-02-27T14:10:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.adzuna.com\/blog\/?p=3421"},"modified":"2023-03-01T12:26:48","modified_gmt":"2023-03-01T12:26:48","slug":"the-states-most-guilty-of-posting-large-salary-bands","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.adzuna.com\/blog\/the-states-most-guilty-of-posting-large-salary-bands\/","title":{"rendered":"The states most guilty of posting large salary bands"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last year, three states Washington D.C., California and New York took major steps in progressing forward toward pay equity by overhauling their pay transparency laws.<\/span><\/p>\n

A quick recap, since January 1, employers in Washington and California with 15 or more employees are required to disclose salary ranges in all job ads, while the same law will take effect in New York State in September (currently only pockets of the state like New York City and Ithaca have legislation in place).<\/span><\/p>\n

These statewide sweeping changes have made pay transparency a juggernaut of the job market, prompting other states like Massachusetts and South Carolina to put this topic on their agenda.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"?\"\u00a0Read more: What is salary transparency and how does it vary state by state?<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

You might be thinking that such legal reform would certainly transform the job landscape for the better and drastically improve the experience of searching for a job. If that\u2019s the case, you\u2019re not alone; our previous research revealed that a lack of clarity on salary in job ads is one of the biggest pain points for jobseekers and a major frustration for many.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"?\"\u00a0Read more: What annoys jobseekers the most during job hunts?<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

However, there\u2019s no stringent guideline on salary range as the law requests employers to include a \u201cgood faith\u201d salary range in job listings. Some employers decided to abuse this flexibility and find grey areas. They provide excessively large salary ranges that are not helpful to job applicants, while blatantly taking the credit for being a fair employer.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In this article, you\u2019ll find out what an acceptable range is, which states have the widest salary bands, which states are holding themselves upright, and how to answer \u201cWhat are your salary expectations?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

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What is an acceptable salary range?<\/h2>\n

How wide is too wide? Our gauge is if the difference between the minimum and maximum salary for the job is bigger than $50,000. For example, $50,000-$150,000 or $45,000-$245,000, that\u2019s outrageous.<\/span><\/p>\n

Our advice for employers who are new to pay transparency is to keep the salary range discrepancy up to $20,000 wide for more junior roles. For example, $50,000-$70,000. As for senior roles, it\u2019s plausible to have a wider range because the applicants\u2019 experience and qualification can vary, but it\u2019s best to aim for a maximum of $50,000 wide as ranges wider than this start to become meaningless. If employers are unsure about the level of experience they\u2019re looking for or they do welcome candidates from different expertise levels, they should be upfront about this in the job ad to avoid misunderstandings.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Advertising the minimum and maximum amount of pay in a job ad can help companies weed out candidates that don\u2019t match their hiring budgets and reassure potential employees that the company cares about being fair and transparent. For jobseekers, on top of the obvious benefit – they can save time and energy from applying for jobs that don\u2019t match their salary expectation – having salary ranges can also help them get a glimpse into the future and learn about their potential salary progression.<\/span><\/p>\n

A good rule of thumb for employers is to treat others as you would like to be treated. How would you feel if a candidate\u2019s answer to salary expectations was very vague?<\/span><\/p>\n

\"?\"\u00a0Read more: US is one of the worst countries for pay transparency<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

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The states with outrageously huge salary ranges<\/h2>\n

Washington State might be one of the pioneers in mandating salary ranges in job ads but the state is the worst offender when it comes to large discrepancies within salary ranges. Close to half (46%) of all job ads where the difference in salary ranges is between $200,000 and $500,000 are located in Washington. California closely follows, with 17% of job ads having such huge compensation ranges differences.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n