Washington employers will soon have to disclose starting salaries for job vacancies to job applicants — early in the hiring process — if a bill that recently passed both houses of the state legislature becomes law.

Under the proposed legislation, employers of 15 or more workers would be required to disclose the hourly rate of pay or salary, or a range of what it might be, as well as give a general description of benefits and other compensation that could be offered in an assignment job.

This is a change from current requirements which state that an employer must disclose a pay scale and benefits only when a job offer has been made – and the candidate requests it.

Applicants often cannot easily access compensation information when applying for a job, said Sen. Emily Randall, one of the bill’s sponsors. It can create an imbalance between applicants if some applicants have a connection to the company that can shed light on what the employer is willing to offer, or if they have already negotiated a higher rate of pay.

Women, people of color and others from historically underrepresented groups are more likely to miss out on those pieces to effectively negotiate a higher pay rate, said Randall, a Democrat from Bremerton.

“I’ve never been a business owner, but I’ve hired a number of people,” she told a public hearing in February. “I always know what we are able to pay in advance. I have an idea of ​​the range.

“For us, being transparent about this is a matter of pay equity.”

The legislation defines a job offer as the solicitations that the employer uses to recruit new workers, whether through a third-party recruiter, a hard copy advertising the position, or a posting on a digital job site. Any posting that includes expected candidate qualifications should also include salary information.

Employers would be held to the same standards when workers apply for new positions or promotions within the same company. Postings for internal transfers should also include a pay scale or pay scale.

The House passed the legislation, Senate Bill 5761, on Tuesday after the Senate moved it forward in February. The Senate considers minor changes made to the bill by the lower house. If passed, the law will come into force in January 2023.

Already, the legislation has drawn criticism from trade groups that defend business owners. Bob Battles, director of government affairs at the Association of Washington Business, said the bill would be “burdensome” for small employers. Bruce Beckett, a lobbyist with the Washington Retail Association, said it could have unintended consequences for job seekers if their previous salary was on a job posting that future employers could easily track down.

Based on the legislation’s definition of ‘secondment’, it’s clear employers wouldn’t have to include a pay scale on ‘request help’ signs hanging in their window, said Jim King, of the Independent Business Association. But it is less clear what counts as a qualification. Should a flyer for an “experienced” line cook include salary?

“We’re trying to keep it as simple as possible” for small business owners, King said, adding that he felt the number of employees determining whether employers would be required to disclose salary information should be higher. . An amendment to increase this threshold from 15 to 50 employees did not pass in the House.

Proponents of the legislation say it builds on previous work on pay equity, such as prohibiting employers from asking job applicants about their salary history.

For Cher Scarlett, a Kirkland software engineer who testified at a public hearing in favor of the bill, the legislation is a way to ensure she and her colleagues don’t miss out on the compensation they could. get, if they knew how to ask.

Scarlett has led a charge to bring attention to allegations of pay disparity and gender discrimination at companies including Apple, Starbucks and Activision Blizzard. She launched an Apple Salary Survey to study the salaries of workers across the country and investigate anecdotal evidence of a pay gap.

In her own previous jobs, Scarlett said her salary was depressed because employers asked her about her salary expectations, rather than disclosing what they could offer. She is in no position to negotiate, she said. Needing a stable income, she cannot risk losing an opportunity.

“We deserve to be paid what we’re worth,” Scarlett said. “And we deserve to know what that value is.”