Biden Orders US Contractors to Reveal Salary Ranges in Job Ads

The Biden administration plans to require companies with federal government contracts to disclose expected salary ranges in job postings, as part of a broader effort to boost race and gender pay equity.

US contractors, as well as federal agencies, will also be prohibited from using a job applicant’s compensation history to set their starting pay.

“These new actions adopt commonsense policies that will help pay millions of workers fairly, close gender and racial wage gaps, and yield tangible benefits for the federal government and federal contractors,” President Joe Biden said in a statement coinciding with the 15th anniversary of the Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. That law overturned a US Supreme Court decision that restricted when workers could file pay discrimination complaints.

The White House’s latest moves echo state efforts to enhance pay transparency and shrink compensation gaps for women and minorities. Several states, including California, New York, and Washington, have already banned salary history use in hiring and enacted legislation requiring salary ranges in job postings.

Senior administration officials said the Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council will issue a proposed rule for federal contractors that will be open for public comment for 60 days. The US Labor Department’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs, which enforces contractors’ anti-discrimination and affirmative action obligations, will issue guidance to clarify existing protections to prevent hiring or pay bias.

The Office of Personnel Management is scheduled to publish a final rule covering employees of federal agencies on Jan. 30. The rule will go into effect 60 days later.