Massachusetts: As Filing Deadline Looms, State Publishes New FAQs on Pay Transparency Law
By Erica E. Flores - Skoler Abbott P.C.
January 24, 2025
Last Summer, we wrote about Massachusetts’ newly-minted pay transparency law, which requires many Massachusetts employers to file certain demographic data with the Secretary of State and to disclose salary/pay ranges in all job postings. With the deadline for covered employers to comply with the first of these mandates now just days away, on February 3, 2025, the Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development recently published a set of FAQs designed to help employers determine if they are covered by the new filing requirements and, if so, what they need to do to comply. Here is a summary of what employers need to know.
Employers with 100+ Employees Must File EEO-1 Reports With the Secretary of State
Since 1966, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) has required certain large private employers (as well as certain unions, governments, and schools) to file a report containing workforce demographic data categorized by race, ethnicity, sex, and job category. These reports are known as EEO reports.
Under last year’s “Act Relative to Salary Range Transparency,” employers who had 100+ employees in Massachusetts at any time during the previous calendar year and who are required to file an EEO report with the EEOC are now required to file a copy of their most recent EEO report with the Massachusetts Secretary of State as well.
Covered private employers, who file the EEO-1 report, must file their latest EEO-1 report with the state no later than Monday, February 3, 2025, and by February 1 (or the next business day) every year thereafter. Covered unions and schools, who file the EEO-3 and EEO-5 reports, respectively, must also file their latest EEO report by February 3, 2025, and by February 1 (or the next business day) every other year thereafter. State and local governments, who file the EEO-4 report, need not file their latest EEO report until February 2 of next year, and by February 1 (or the next business day) every other year thereafter.
EEO reports must be filed electronically, via a dedicated web portal located here: https://www.sec.state.ma.us/divisions/corporations/eeo-data-reports.htm.
Further Clarifications
The Executive Office of Workforce Development’s recent guidance offered some additional assurances and clarifications about these new filing requirements:
• Covered employers do not need to make any changes to their EEO report or to create anything new to comply with this requirement. They merely need to file their most recent EEO report with the Secretary of State, just as it was filed with the EEOC.
• Covered employers who file multiple EEO-1 reports due to having operations in multiple states should file their most recent EEO-1 report that covers their Massachusetts establishments. They may choose to submit their consolidation report, headquarters report, establishment report, or a similar successor report as required by the EEOC, as long as it covers all of their Massachusetts establishments.
• In past years, EEO reports included a second category of required data known as “Component 2.” Component 2 included information on employee compensation, but it has not been required by the EEOC since 2018, so covered employers do not need to include Component 2 data with their EEO reports when they file them with the Commonwealth. But if Component 2 is ever reinstated by the EEOC, then that data would also have to be filed with the Commonwealth.
• Certain federal contractors who have 50+ employees are also required to file EEO-1 reports, but they are not covered by the Massachusetts pay transparency law so they are not required to file their EEO-1 reports with the Commonwealth.
• The reports submitted by employers will not be public records under Massachusetts law. In other words, members of the public will not be able to request and receive copies of these EEO reports. The Commonwealth, however, will use the data submitted by employers to publish aggregate wage and workforce data on the Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development’s website no later than June 1, 2025, and annually thereafter. These aggregate reports will be broken down by industry.
Takeaways
Given President Trump’s recent Executive Orders mandating the dismantling of diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA) initiatives across the federal government, it is unclear whether the EEOC will continue to require employers to file EEO reports going forward. If it does not, Governor Healey and the state legislature may have to revisit the filing requirements of the pay transparency law. But no matter what happens, these issues are not going to be resolved before February 3, 2025, and create no impediment to compliance with the Massachusetts filing requirement. Accordingly, covered Massachusetts employers should file their latest EEO-1 report (even if it is their 2023 submission) with the Secretary of State by the upcoming deadline this year despite the uncertain future of the EEO reports under the Trump Administration.
What About the Salary/Pay Range Disclosures?
As noted above, the Massachusetts pay transparency law also requires covered employers to disclose salary/pay ranges in most job postings. This portion of the law will not take effect until October 29, 2025, but the Commonwealth’s recent FAQs promised that additional information will be provided at a later date. When that happens, we’ll be sure to pass that information on to employers.