Governor Maura Healey has signed the Frances Perkins Wage Equity Act into law, launching a new era of fairness and transparency that promises to close wage gaps in Massachusetts.
The law — which is named after Frances Perkins, a Massachusetts native and the fourth United States Secretary of Labor from 1933 to 1945 — puts two key requirements in place.
“First, it requires employers to include salary ranges in job postings, removing the uncertainty of pay negotiations from new employment contracts that often penalize women and workers of color. Second, it allows the state to collect and publish aggregate data across sectors so it can track wage and workforce inequities by race and gender,” according to The Boston Foundation, which is a “partner, leading advocate and convener of the Wage Equity Now coalition, which has been working for years to bring this new law to fruition.”
As the Massachusetts Municipal Association, which has also supported this effort, explains, the law also “requires all U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission reports to be collected by the Office of the Secretary of the Commonwealth and aggregated by the state’s Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development.”
“The requirements for salary ranges on job postings will go into effect in the fall of 2025, while submissions of federal EEO reports will begin in 2025 for school districts… and in 2026 for municipalities.”
Amy O’Leary, Strategies’ executive director, attended the bill signing with our two summer interns Arleth Gavilanez and Elise Ricamato.
“We think this law will help employees across the state, including early education and care professionals,” O’Leary says.
The law has the support of elected officials and community leaders.
“I have long supported wage equity legislation and, as Attorney General, I was proud to work together with the business community to implement the 2016 Equal Pay Act,” Governor Healey says in a statement, adding the new law will also “strengthen the ability of Massachusetts employers to build diverse, talented teams. I want to thank the Legislature, advocates, labor unions, and the business community for their hard work to see this through.”
Evelyn Murphy, co-chair of the Wage Equity Now Coalition, says, “This law embodies Massachusetts’ commitment that women and people of color shape and share in the economic engine—economic development, IT, climate, housing—envisioned by the Healey administration and legislature.”
And James E. Rooney, President & CEO, Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce, notes: “This new law is the result of the important work of policymakers, the business community, and civic leaders to ensure that we build a 21st century economy that strengthens our workforce, businesses, and competitiveness.”