Are remote job postings in more states now covered by pay transparency laws

Are remote job postings in more states now covered by pay transparency laws

Yes. More states now cover remote postings, but only when the job is tied to that state’s work-location rule, so a remote label alone does not trigger pay transparency everywhere.

The part people get wrong is simple: they assume a fully remote role is invisible to state pay laws. That is not how the newer rules work. States usually look at where the work will be performed, where the role reports, or whether the posting is for work in that state. New York, Illinois, and Massachusetts all use that kind of location-based test in their current guidance.

New York is the clearest example. The state says a posting needs pay information if the job will be performed, at least in part, in New York, and it also covers jobs performed outside the state when they report to a supervisor, office, or other work site in New York. The New York Department of Labor also says this includes remote positions.

Illinois is narrower in one way and broader in another. Its guidance says pay transparency applies when the position will be performed at least in part in Illinois, or reports to a supervisor, office, or work site in Illinois. At the same time, Illinois says a posting for fully remote work is not covered just because the employer could hire someone who lives in Illinois. The work has to be connected to Illinois in the way the statute and guidance describe.

Massachusetts now reaches remote work too, but the trigger is still the primary place of work. The Attorney General’s guidance says the law applies to positions with a primary place of work in Massachusetts, including positions that can be performed remotely to a Massachusetts worksite and remote workers whose primary place of work is Massachusetts. That means a remote posting can be covered even if no office visit is expected.

New York City adds another layer. The city requires a good-faith salary range for jobs advertised in New York City, and the city’s fact sheet says the rule applies to many categories of workers. For remote hiring, the practical question is still whether the posting is for work in the city or connected to a covered New York location. Employers cannot safely assume that remote means exempt.

The inconvenient part is that one remote opening can face different rules at the same time. A company may need a range in a New York posting, no range in a posting aimed only at work entirely outside Illinois, and a range in Massachusetts if the primary place of work is there. The job title does not control the result, the legal geography does.

A practical check starts with three questions. Where will the work actually be done, where does the role report, and which state’s rules apply to that location or reporting chain. If the answer includes New York, Illinois, or Massachusetts, the posting may need pay information even if the role is remote. That is the step most teams skip when they reuse one template nationwide.

For employers, the safest workflow is to classify postings by work geography before they go live. Write one version for roles tied to New York, one for roles tied to Illinois, one for Massachusetts, and one for roles that truly have no covered-state tie. That is more work up front, but it prevents the common mistake of publishing a single remote template that is compliant in one state and noncompliant in another.

For job seekers, the useful question is not whether a posting says remote. The useful question is whether the posting names a covered state, a covered worksite, or a reporting location that brings it under a pay transparency law. If the salary range is missing where the law requires one, the posting may still be useful evidence of a violation.

The trend is real: more states are adding salary disclosure rules, and several of them reach remote roles through location-based language. The common mistake is treating remote work as a loophole. It is not a loophole, it is a different fact pattern, and the posting has to be checked against the state rule that actually applies.

If you are building or auditing postings, DevConnect keeps that kind of tracking organized in one place, which helps when you are matching jobs to states before publishing: https://devconnectplatform.com.

What to check before publishing a remote posting

1. Identify the state connected to the work, not just the recruiter or headquarters.
2. Check whether the role is performed at least in part in that state.
3. Check whether the role reports to a supervisor, office, or work site in that state.
4. Confirm the range format required by that state before the posting goes live.

What happens when it goes wrong

The usual failure is not a dramatic lawsuit on day one. It is a posting that spreads across boards, gets flagged by an applicant, and then forces a correction after the fact. That wastes time, creates rework for recruiting, and can turn a simple posting into a compliance problem that should have been avoided by checking the work location first.

Bottom line for 2026

Remote job postings are covered in more states than they used to be. The shift is not “remote everywhere is covered,” it is “remote roles are increasingly covered when the state’s rule reaches the work location, the reporting location, or the primary place of work.”

FAQ

Do I need to post pay for every fully remote role?

No. Coverage depends on the state rule tied to the role’s location and reporting structure. Some states cover remote roles tied to that state, and some do not reach a remote role with no in-state work connection.

Does the candidate’s home state decide the rule?

Not by itself. The more important questions are where the work will be performed and where the role reports. A candidate living somewhere else does not automatically move the posting out of a covered state.

Can one posting need to follow multiple state laws at once?

Yes. A single remote posting can touch more than one state if the work, reporting line, or intended audience spans covered jurisdictions. Employers usually need to draft to the stricter applicable rule.

Does New York City have separate pay transparency rules?

Yes. New York City has its own salary transparency law for jobs advertised in the city, separate from New York State’s broader rule. Remote postings that connect to a covered NYC job still need a careful review.

Where should I start if I am auditing old remote postings?

Start with the states tied to the posting, then sort by work location and reporting location. Review any role that was written before the current state guidance was updated, because older templates often miss remote-work coverage.