Am I required to disclose a wage or salary range for all job openings?

Yes, in accordance with Revised Code of Washington (RCW) 49.58.110, effective January 1, 2023, employers in Washington State with 15 or more employees must:

(1) Disclose in each posting for each job opening the wage scale or salary range, and a general description of all of the benefits and other compensation to be offered to the hired applicant. For the purposes of this section, “posting” means any solicitation intended to recruit job applicants for a specific available position, including recruitment done directly by an employer or indirectly through a third party, and includes any postings done electronically, or with a printed hard copy, that includes qualifications for desired applicants.

(2) Upon request of an employee offered an internal transfer to a new position or promotion, the employer must provide the wage scale or salary range for the employee’s new position.

(3) This section only applies to employers with 15 or more employees.

Do current postings on the WSU Jobs page need updating to include a salary range?

Yes. This is a good time to review current postings and take down any postings where candidates are no longer being solicited. For postings that are still active, provide the full salary range to your HRS Service Team so they can update postings as soon as possible.

Does HRS have sample language?

Yes. For a recruitment through Workday, HRS will be updating the requisition templates to include appropriate language regarding a salary range. If you are posting a Non-Permanent Civil Service or Student Hourly position please see the below sample language:

Non-Permanent Civil Service

RANGE A-M

Successful candidates typically begin at the beginning of the salary range.

If a non-permanent classified employee establishes benefit eligibility, WSU offers a comprehensive benefits package which includes: medical, dental, life and disability insurance package for employees and dependents; retirement; deferred compensation and optional supplemental retirement accounts.  Regardless of benefit eligibility status, these employees earn annual and/or vacation leave accruals, sick leave accruals and paid holiday’s or holiday accruals.

For a more detailed summary of benefits offered by WSU to non-permanent employees, if they meet benefit eligibility their benefits would be  the same as Civil Service staff, visit: https://hrs.wsu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/2022-Benefit-Overview-for-Civil-Service.pdf. Information on how benefit eligibility is established can be found at https://hrs.wsu.edu/employees/benefits/temporary-seasonal-employee-benefits/.

Student Hourly

Hourly RANGE or Hourly Wage if fixed

Students enrolled in 6 credits or more are not eligible for the employee benefit package; and if enrolled in 10 credits or more, they also are not monitored for eligibility to participate in the employer-matched retirement plan. Employees will accrue paid sick leave in accordance with WAC 296-128-620.

I post our openings on LinkedIn and other websites/professional networking platforms. Do I have to include the salary wage range in the LinkedIn post?

The new language in RCW 49.58.110 defines a “posting” as any solicitation intended to recruit job applicants for a specific available position, including recruitment done directly by the employer or indirectly through a third party, and includes any postings done electronically, or with a printed hard copy, that includes qualifications for desired applicants.

If your LinkedIn post includes qualifications then you would need to include the salary wage range. If it is more general and hyperlinks to the WSU jobs page where the qualifications and salary wage range are already posted, you do not have to include it in the post.

I posted a range for a position and offered within the range for the candidate. They countered above the maximum posted range. What are my options?

Departments are unable to offer above the maximum posted salary range. If your candidate rejects the highest posted salary amount, you can either offer the position to another candidate (using the posted amount) or begin a new search with a corrected salary range.

The Equal Pay Act prohibits me from asking for or reviewing the salary for any candidate’s current salary. How do I offer the correct salary?

We cannot request the current salary. The salary should be offered as appropriate within the wage range posted considering the candidate’s education/experience. Requests to offer above the mid-point of the range for Administrative Professional salaries are to be approved by the appointing authority and also Human Resource Services. For Civil Service promotional/salary placement processes BPPM 60.29 has not changed.

Provide the internal candidate with the information in BPPM 60.29 or the applicable collective bargaining agreement so they can initiate salary discussions.

Do I have to include specific costs of benefits, like health care or retirement benefits?

No. The law requires a “general description of all benefits”, not a breakdown of costs. Offer letters and job postings will include hyperlinks to the WSU benefits page as well as total compensation.

What happens if someone files a complaint with state L&I?

L&I has investigatory rights when a complaint is filed. If they find a violation of the Equal Pay Act, they are required to attempt to resolve the violation through a mediated “conference and conciliation” process. If that process is unsuccessful, L&I can issue a citation, assess actual and statutory damages, and/or civil penalties. A complainant can bring a civil action against an employer within three years of the date of the alleged violation, no matter if the complainant is still employed by the employer.

I have more questions, who do I talk to?

Contact your HRS Service Team.