With the new year comes new changes for employers. New laws and regulations mean that employers may be affected by certain issues in 2025 that they did not have to contend with previously. Pay transparency and paid leave are two of the most pressing issues seeing a lot of movement and new legislation in 2025.
Pay Transparency
A push for greater disclosure surrounding pay in job postings is occurring in both the U.S. and around the globe. Despite difficulties in discussing pay and implementing pay transparency practices, studies have shown that greater transparency can motivate employees to put in more effort.
Including pay information in job postings is currently required in the states of California, Colorado, Connecticut, Hawaii, Maryland, Nevada, New York, Rhode Island, and Washington, as well as in New York City, Cincinnati, and the District of Columbia. Starting in 2025, the states of Illinois, Minnesota, and Vermont now also require employers to provide information regarding pay in job postings.
These laws typically stipulate that employers must include in job postings for jobs, transfers, or promotions the following information:
These laws also require employers to provide the above information to job applicants either upon request or before discussing compensation and to current employees upon request. Employers must also keep records of individuals’ job roles, job descriptions, pay, and increases in pay for 2 to 5 years.
Pay transparency is gaining traction around the world as well. In 2023, the European Union adopted the Gender Pay Transparency Directive that requires EU member countries to implement national pay transparency laws by 2026. Other countries that are heavily encouraging or requiring pay transparency include Mexico, Switzerland, Korea, Brazil, Australia, and Japan.
While there are still many countries without national pay transparency legislation, many are now experiencing a public push for such legislation in the last five years, such as Singapore, Colombia, and China.
Paid Leave
More states in the U.S. are beginning to implement state-run paid leave programs, in which qualified employees can receive paid time off for experiencing qualifying life events. The most recent states to pass these mandatory state-run paid leave programs include:
In states that already have paid leave programs, new regulations are expanding what employees can use the paid leave programs for. In some instances, this has included broadening the definitions of “family members” to include non-family members that live in the employee’s home or depend on the employee for care.
These new regulations are also expanding the reasons for which an employee can take paid medical or family leave, such as recovery from an act of violence, cases of a state emergency, time taken for legal proceedings related to child adoption, pregnancy loss, and prenatal appointments.
It is very important that employers pay attention to these updates and consult with their legal counsel to determine which new laws are applicable to them. If you have any questions about either of these issues, please contact an attorney in Barton’s Labor & Employment Group.
Richard H. Block
Philip S. Mortensen