What Is Notice of Career Progression in CO’s Pay Transparency Law?
NEWSLETTER VOLUME 2.4
|January 25, 2024
What Is Notice of Career Progression in CO's Pay Transparency Law?
Who comes up with this stuff? You have to wonder if legislators have every worked as employees in large organizations that are trying to make money instead of rules.
My latest head scratcher is Colorado's requirement that employers give current employees notice of "career progression." This is on top of giving employees notice of job openings. The idea is to inform people when they start what usually happens next on the career path from this role. What if nothing happens. Does the employer have to state: this role is a career cul-de-sac? And what if there are multiple possible paths, including sideways or to completely different departments or locations?
I had no idea, so I did the lawyer thing and looked up the definitions.
The agency guidance for Colorado's pay transparency law defines "career progression," as “a regular or automatic movement from one position to another based on time in a specific role or other objective metrics.” Okay, let's break this down.
Does anyone ever get an automatic promotion? You mean there are jobs where as long as you stay out of trouble, show up, do some work and remain a warm body, you'll get a raise and a fancier job in 12 months? I'm not familiar with this model. Let's put that one aside.
A "regular movement from one position to another" makes a little more sense. You can probably figure out where people move to by looking at career path analytics. But there are almost always multiple paths. So, does "regular movement" mean the most common roles that people move into or all the roles that people have moved into in the past?
Then there's the whole "or other objective metrics" catch all. Give me a break. That could mean anything. So far, this exercise has not been helpful.
In the meantime, employers and HR Tech are starting to explore skills needed rather than degrees or certain experience. In theory at least, this approach should open up new career paths as we begin to define what is actually needed to do the work today instead of what people studied in school or did 5 years ago. Also, people change jobs and careers far more than they did even 10 years ago.
Even after reading the guidance on Colorado's pay transparency law on giving career progression notices, I don't know how organizations can comply with this law without a ton of work that may not even be useful to the people the law is trying to help.
In the meantime, this is a nice summary of both the new Colorado and Hawaii pay transparency laws and who they apply to. Maybe these folks know.
There are new pay transparency laws in two states, Hawaii and Colorado, that are effective on January 1, 2024. Hawaii’s pay transparency law first became effective on January 1, while Colorado’s pay transparency law underwent changes as of January 1. Hawaii joins states including California, Illinois, Maryland, and New York in its effort to ensure employers provide more information to job seekers about compensation for open positions.
Hawaii Pay Transparency Law
The Hawaii pay transparency requirements are not as burdensome as those of some other states. Job listings must include “an hourly rate or salary range that reasonably reflects the actual expected compensation” for the relevant position. This requirement does not apply to positions that are:
- Internal transfers or promotions
- Public sector positions governed by a collective bargaining agreement
- Positions with an employer that has fewer than 50 employees
There are no specific sanctions associated with failure to meet the requirements in the Hawaii pay transparency laws.
Colorado Pay Transparency Law
Colorado has had a pay transparency law in effect since 2021. Under the previous version of Colorado’s pay transparency laws, employers were required to provide the following information in job listings:
- The “hourly rate or salary compensation (or a range thereof)” for the position, where the compensation range could “extend from the lowest to the highest pay the employer in good faith believe it might pay for the particular job”
- A “general description of any bonuses, commissions, or other forms of compensation are being offered for the job”
- A “general description of all employment benefits the employer is offering for the position
The law had additional requirements about providing information to employees concerning promotional opportunities. The promotion provisions did not apply to employees outside of Colorado. Information regarding benefits and other forms of compensation for promotional opportunities was not required for jobs performed entirely outside of Colorado and job postings entirely outside Colorado.
The Colorado pay transparency law applies to employers that have one or more persons employed in Colorado. Employers violating the provisions of the law may be ordered to pay a fine of no less than $500 and no more than $10,000 per violation. Violations are associated with job openings and not with each job listing. Employers are not liable for situations where a third party on its own volition reposts a job listing without the required pay transparency elements.
The Colorado pay transparency law is significantly focused on opportunities for internal applicants of an employer. There are no specific limitations regarding job posting requirements where external candidates are considered. The geographic limits in the pay transparency law are associated with employees and not external job seekers. A significant level of information must be provided to employees that employers are not required to provide to external job seekers.
Changes to Colorado’s Pay Transparency Law
As of January 1, 2024, Colorado’s pay transparency law now requires the following additional information in job listings:
- The application deadline for the position
- Information on how to apply for the job
Employers do not need to include a deadline if the employer accepts application on an ongoing basis. In such a case, the job listing must state there is no deadline. The deadline for a position may be extended if the original deadline was established in good faith expectation and the job listing for a position is updated with the extended deadline.
The revised pay transparency law more specifically defines the situations where there must be a job listing for promotional opportunities. Job listings for all promotional opportunities must be provided unless the employer is physically located outside of Colorado and the employer has fewer than fifteen employees working in Colorado, all of whom work remotely. In such a situation, the employer is only required to provide notice of remote job opportunities.
More information on Colorado’s pay transparency law can be found on the website for Colorado’s Department of Labor and Employment.
Compensation & Pay Equity Law Review
Are you concerned about pay gaps in your organization?
CompAnalyst® Pay Equity Suite can help you achieve and sustain pay equity
