DOVER — A freshman lawmaker has proposed legislation that would require businesses in Delaware to disclose the salary or wage range for all jobs, bringing the private sector on the same page as the public sector.
Rep. Melanie Ross Levin (D-Brandywine Hundred) filed House Bill 105 which would require all companies and organizations with more than 11 employees to include a salary range for all job postings. It also requires employers to maintain records relating to job descriptions and wage ranges for current employees and for three years after an employee moves on.
The Delaware Department of Labor would be empowered to investigate suspected violations and companies who fail to comply in good faith could be fined up to $2,000. Fines are capped at $10,000 for each subsequent violation.
Before she was elected last November, Ross Levin spent seven years as the director of Delaware’s Office of Women’s Advancement and Advocacy, where she worked to enact Paid Family and Medical Leave and raise the state’s minimum wage, as well as establish protections for pregnant workers in the state. But she said the bill is not just about women at work, rather all Delawareans.
“The wage gap is complex and it has a lot of layers to it. It was something in the back of my mind when I won the election because it’s important that women get paid fairly,” Ross Levin told the Delaware Business Times. “But I also know from experience from applying to jobs that this is just common sense, so applicants don’t waste their time and neither does the company.”
She also spent time in her career at the National Women’s Law Center where she said there were many times when she was interviewing candidates only to discover that the organization’s pay range was nowhere close to what a candidate was looking for in a role.
Upon Ross Levin’s election, she resigned from her post at the OWAA and, now that she herself is looking for jobs again, she’s finding that it’s a big frustration in the application process.
“I once went through five rounds of interviews including a presentation only to find we were nowhere near each other in terms of salaries. What a waste of time,” Ross Levin said, recalling a time in the distant past. “When I talk to companies that don’t offer the salary range, it’s typically because they’re not on top of the best practices of today.”
There are 14 states that have pay transparency laws, including Maryland and New Jersey, and it’s having a domino effect. Compensation data and research provider Payscale estimates that in 2025, nearly 1 in 3 workers in the U.S. will be affected by some pay transparency law when they look for a job or see their employer’s job postings.
The younger generation is increasingly expecting pay transparency, in particular with Generation Z which is predicted to make up a third of the workforce by 2030.
About 75% of job seekers are more likely to apply for a job if the salary range is listed in the posting, according to a 2022 Indeed survey, and 56% are more likely to apply for a company if the salary range is listed, even if they don’t recognize the company name.
If HB 105 does pass, it would also show where the private companies in Delaware stand compared to the largest employers in the state. Per Delaware Business Times’ records, the state government and ChristianaCare are the largest employers in the state and both show salary ranges in job postings. The University of Delaware also offers the pay scale for its internal job board as well.
Ross Levin told DBT that her bill has already been amended from its original concept because of feedback from businesses, and she pointed to the small business exception as an example.
“The New Castle County Chamber of Commerce has been a thoughtful collaborator and so has the Delaware Restaurant Association and the Delaware Healthcare Association,” she said. “It’s a process and it’s incredibly helpful.”
Meanwhile, the Delaware State Chamber of Commerce is opposed to the bill as introduced, but representatives said that they are in discussions with Ross Levin on amendment recommendations.
“We are specifically seeking the following changes: exempting more small businesses, greater clarity around definitions, moving the implementation date out further, and lowering the record keeping requirements and penalties for violations,” DSCC Public Policy and Government Relations Director Tyler Micik wrote in an email.
