Full text of Pay Secrecy

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private sector workers reported that discussion of
wages and salaries was formally prohibited and an
additional 38.1 percent reported that such discussion
was discouraged by managers.5
On April 8, 2014, President Barack Obama issued
an executive order prohibiting federal contractors,
subcontractors and federally assisted construction
contractors from discharging or discriminating against
any employee or applicant because the employee or
applicant inquired about, discussed, or disclosed his
or her compensation or the compensation of other
employees or applicants. The Administration has also
endorsed the Paycheck Fairness Act, which would
enable workers to discuss compensation without fear
of retaliation.

PAY SECRECY
In 2014, women who worked year-round, fulltime earned seventy-nine cents (79¢) for every
dollar their male counterparts earned.1 Women’s
median earnings are lower than men’s in nearly
all occupations, whether they work in occupations
predominantly held by women, occupations
predominantly held by men, or occupations with a
more even composition of men and women.2
Pay secrecy policies serve to perpetuate these
disparities. In 2010, nearly half of all workers
nationally reported that they were either contractually
forbidden or strongly discouraged from discussing
their pay with their colleagues, according to results
from a 2010 Institute for Women’s Policy Research/
Rockefeller Survey of Economic Security.3 Prohibiting
or discouraging any discussion of wages in the
workplace is far more widespread in the private than
in the public sector.4 In this survey, 23.1 percent of

Section 7 of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA)
protects non-supervisory employees who are covered

...nearly half of all workers
nationally reported that they
were either contractually
forbidden or strongly
discouraged from discussing
their pay with their
colleagues....

Issue brief

by the Act from employer retaliation when they discuss
their wages or working conditions with their colleagues
as part of a concerted activity to improve them, even if
there is no union or other formal organization involved
in the effort. These employee rights are enforced
by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).
Nevertheless, the NLRA does not address all situations
where employers prohibit or discourage employees
from discussing their pay with their colleagues.6
The 1980s saw the introduction of the first two state
laws to address employer wage secrecy policies.
In 1982, Michigan enacted a law which prohibited
employers from doing any of the following: require
as a condition of employment non-disclosure by an
employee of his or her wages; require an employee
to sign a waiver or other document which purports

to deny an employee the right to disclose his or
her wages; and discharge, formally discipline, or
otherwise discriminate against an employee for job
advancement on the basis of having disclosed his
or her wages. In 1985, California enacted a similar
law. Between 2000 and 2016, California expanded
its law and twelve additional states--Colorado,
Connecticut, Illinois, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland,
Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York,
Oregon, and Vermont—and the District of Columbia
enacted “pay secrecy” laws. The following includes
the language of effective protections against pay
secrecy.7 Though Maryland’s law does not take effect
until October 1, 2016, it mirrors other states’ existing
legislation to prohibit an employer from taking certain
actions concerning the disclosure or discussion of an
employee’s wages.

For more information about current federal
and state-level pay transparency protections,
coverage, and available remedies, visit the Equal
Pay and Pay Transparency Protections map at
dol.gov/wb/equalpay/equalpaymap.htm

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CALIFORNIA

COLORADO

Cal. Lab. Code § 232

Colo. Rev. Stat. § 24-34-402(1)(i)

No employer may do any of the following:
(a) Require, as a condition of employment, that an
employee refrain from disclosing the amount of his or
her wages.
(b) Require an employee to sign a waiver or other
document that purports to deny the employee the right
to disclose the amount of his or her wages.
(c) Discharge, formally discipline, or otherwise
discriminate against an employee who discloses the
amount of his or her wages.

(1) It shall be a discriminatory or unfair employment
practice:
(i) Unless otherwise permitted by federal law, for an
employer to discharge, discipline, discriminate
against, coerce, intimidate, threaten, or interfere
with any employee or other person because the
employee inquired about, disclosed, compared,
or otherwise discussed the employee’s wages; to
require as a condition of employment nondisclosure
by an employee of his or her wages; or to require an
employee to sign a waiver or other document that
purports to deny an employee the right to disclose
his or her wage information. This paragraph (i) shall
not apply to employers who are exempt from the
provisions of the “National Labor Relations Act”, 29
U.S.C. sec. 151 et seq.

Cal. Lab. Code § 1197.5(j)(1)
An employer shall not discharge, or in any manner
discriminate or retaliate against, any employee by reason
of any action taken by the employee to invoke or assist in
any manner the enforcement of this section. An employer
shall not prohibit an employee from disclosing the
employee’s own wages, discussing the wages of others,
inquiring about another employee’s wages, or aiding or
encouraging any other employee to exercise his or her
rights under this section. Nothing in this section creates an
obligation to disclose wages.

CONNECTICUT
Conn. Gen. Stat. § 31-40z(b)-(c)
(b) No employer shall:
(1) Prohibit an employee from disclosing or discussing
the amount of his or her wages or the wages of
another employee of such employer that have been
disclosed voluntarily by such other employee;
(2) Prohibit an employee from inquiring about the wages
of another employee of such employer;
(3) Require an employee to sign a waiver or other
document that denies the employee his or her right
to disclose or discuss the amount of his or her wages
or the wages of another employee of such employer
that have been disclosed voluntarily by such other
employee;
(4) Require an employee to sign a waiver or other
document that denies the employee his or her right to
inquire about the wages of another employee of such
employer;

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(5) Discharge, discipline, discriminate against, retaliate
against or otherwise penalize any employee who
discloses or discusses the amount of his or her wages
or the wages of another employee of such employer
that have been disclosed voluntarily by such other
employee; or
(6) Discharge, discipline, discriminate against, retaliate
against or otherwise penalize any employee who
inquires about the wages of another employee of
such employer.
(c) Nothing in this section shall be construed to require any
employer or employee to disclose the amount of
wages paid to any employee.

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
D.C. Code § § 32-1452 and 1453
§ 32-1452
An employer shall not:
(1) Require, as a condition of employment, that an
employee refrain from inquiring about, disclosing,
comparing, or otherwise discussing the employee’s
wages or the wages of another employee;
(2) Discharge, discipline, interfere with, or otherwise
retaliate against an employee who inquires about,
discloses, compares, or otherwise discusses
the employee’s wages or the wages of another
employee or is believed by the employer to have
done so; or
(3) Prohibit or attempt to prohibit an employee from
lodging a complaint, or testifying, assisting, or
participating in an investigation or proceeding,
related to a violation of this act.

§ 32-1453
(a) An employer may prohibit an employee with regular
access to information regarding the wages of other
employees in the course of the employee’s work, such
as a human resources employee, from sharing such
information, unless the disclosure is in furtherance of
or response to an investigation, action, or hearing, or
there is a legal obligation for the employer to furnish
the information.
(b) Nothing in this chapter shall require:
(1) An employer to disclose the wages of an employee
in response to an inquiry by another employee; or
(2) An employee to disclose his or her wages in
response to an inquiry by another employee.

ILLINOIS
820 Ill. Comp. Stat. § 112/10(b)
It is unlawful for any employer to interfere with, restrain,
or deny the exercise of or the attempt to exercise any
right provided under this Act [Equal Pay Act of 2003]. It
is unlawful for any employer to discharge or in any other
manner discriminate against any individual for inquiring
about, disclosing, comparing, or otherwise discussing the
employee’s wages or the wages of any other employee,
or aiding or encouraging any person to exercise his or her
rights under this Act.

LOUISIANA
La. Rev. Stat. § 23:664D
It shall be unlawful for an employer to interfere with,
restrain, or deny the exercise of, or attempt to exercise,
any right provided under this Chapter. It shall be unlawful
for any employer to discriminate, retaliate, or take any
adverse employment action, including but not limited to
termination or in any other manner discriminate against
any employee for inquiring about, disclosing, comparing, or
otherwise discussing the employee’s wages or the wages
of any other employee, or aiding or encouraging any other
employee to exercise his or her rights under this Chapter.

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MAINE
Me. Rev. Stat. tit. 26 § 628
An employer may not discharge or discriminate against any
employee by reason of any action taken by such employee
to invoke or assist in any manner the enforcement of this
section. An employer may not prohibit an employee from
disclosing the employee’s own wages or from inquiring
about another employee’s wages if the purpose of the
disclosure or inquiry is to enforce the rights granted by this
section. Nothing in this section creates an obligation to
disclose wages.

MICHIGAN
Mich. Comp. Laws § 408.483a(1)(a)-(c)
An employer shall not do any of the following:
(a) Require as a condition of employment nondisclosure
by an employee of his or her wages.
(b) Require an employee to sign a waiver or other
document which purports to deny an employee the
right to disclose his or her wages.
(c) Discharge, formally discipline, or otherwise
discriminate against for job advancement an
employee who discloses his or her wages.

MINNESOTA
Minn. Stat. § 181.172 (a)-(d)
(a) An employer shall not:
(1) require nondisclosure by an employee of his or her
wages as a condition of employment;
(2) require an employee to sign a waiver or other
document which purports to deny an employee the
right to disclose the employee’s wages; or
(3) take any adverse employment action against an
employee for disclosing the employee’s own wages
or discussing another employee’s wages which have
been disclosed voluntarily.

(b) Nothing in this section shall be construed to:
(1) create an obligation on any employer or employee to
disclose wages;
(2) permit an employee, without the written consent of
the employer, to disclose proprietary information,
trade secret information, or information that is
otherwise subject to a legal privilege or protected by
law;
(3) diminish any existing rights under the National Labor
Relations Act under United States Code, title 29; or
(4) permit the employee to disclose wage information of
other employees to a competitor of their employer.
(c) An employer that provides an employee handbook to its
employees must include in the handbook notice of
employee rights and remedies under this section.
(d) An employer may not retaliate against an employee for
asserting rights or remedies under this section.

NEW HAMPSHIRE
N.H. Rev. Stat. § 275:38-a(I)(b)-(II)
I. No employer shall discharge or in any other manner
discriminate against any employee because he or she:
(b) Inquired about, discussed, or disclosed his or her
wages or those of another employee.
II. This section shall not apply to any employee who has
access to the wage information of other employees
as a part of such employee’s essential job functions
who discloses the wages of such other employees to
individuals who do not otherwise have access to such
information, unless such disclosure is in response to a
complaint or charge or in furtherance of an investigation,
proceeding, hearing, or action under RSA 275:41-a
including an investigation conducted by the employer.
Nothing in this section shall be construed to limit the
rights of an employee provided under any other
provision of law.

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N.H. Rev. Stat. § 275:41-b(I)-(II)
I. No employer shall require the following as a condition of
employment:
(a) That an employee refrain from disclosing the
amount of his or her wages.
(b) That an employee sign a waiver or other document
that purports to deny the employee the right to
disclose the amount of his or her wages, salary, or
paid benefits.
II. No employer shall discharge, formally discipline, or
otherwise discriminate against an employee who
discloses the amount of his or her wages, salary, or paid
benefits.

NEW JERSEY
N.J. Rev. Stat. § 10:5-12(r)
12. It shall be an unlawful employment practice, or, as the
case may be, an unlawful discrimination:
r. For any employer to take reprisals against any
employee for requesting from any other employee
or former employee of the employer information
regarding the job title, occupational category, and
rate of compensation, including benefits, of any
employee or former employee of the employer,
or the gender, race, ethnicity, military status, or
national origin of any employee or former employee
of the employer, regardless of whether the request
was responded to, if the purpose of the request for
the information was to assist in investigating the
possibility of the occurrence of, or in taking of legal
action regarding, potential discriminatory treatment
concerning pay, compensation, bonuses, other
compensation, or benefits. Nothing in this subsection
shall be construed to require an employee to
disclose such information about the employee herself
to any other employee or former employee of the
employer or to any authorized representative of the
other employee or former employee.

NEW YORK
N.Y. Lab. Law § 194(4)(a)-(e)
4. (a) No employer shall prohibit an employee from
inquiring about, discussing, or disclosing the
wages of such employee or another employee.
(b) An employer may, in a written policy provided to
all employees, establish reasonable workplace
and workday limitations on the time, place and
manner for inquires about, discussion of, or the
disclosure of wages. Such limitations shall be
consistent with standards promulgated by the
commissioner and shall be consistent with all
other state and federal laws. Such limitations may
include prohibiting an employee from discussing or
disclosing the wages of another employee without
such employee’s prior permission.
(c) Nothing in this subdivision shall require an
employee to disclose his or her wages. The failure
of an employee to adhere to such reasonable
limitations in such written policy shall be an
affirmative defense to any claims made against an
employer under this subdivision, provided that any
adverse employment action taken by the employer
was for failure to adhere to such reasonable
limitations and not for mere inquiry, discussion
or disclosure of wages in accordance with such
reasonable limitations in such written policy.
(d) This prohibition shall not apply to instances in
which an employee who has access to the wage
information of other employees as a part of such
employee’s essential job functions discloses the
wages of such other employees to individuals who
do not otherwise have access to such information,
unless such disclosure is in response to a complaint
or charge, or in furtherance of an investigation,
proceeding, hearing, or action under this chapter,
including an investigation conducted by the
employer.
(e) Nothing in this section shall be construed to limit
the rights of an employee provided under any other
provision of law or collective bargaining agreement.

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OREGON

VERMONT

Or. Rev. Stat. § 659A.355(1)-(2)

Vt. Stat. tit. 21, § 495(a)(7)(B)(i)-(ii), (8)(D)

(1) It is an unlawful employment practice for an employer
to discharge, demote or suspend, or to discriminate
or retaliate against, an employee with regard to
promotion, compensation or other terms, conditions or
privileges of employment because the employee has:
(a) Inquired about, discussed or disclosed in any
manner the wages of the employee or of another
employee; or
(b) Made a charge, filed a complaint or instituted, or
caused to be instituted, an investigation, proceeding,
hearing or action based on the disclosure of wage
information by the employee.
(2) This section does not apply to an employee who has
access to wage information of employees as part
of the job functions of the employee’s position and
discloses the wages of those employees to individuals
not authorized access to the information, unless the
disclosure is in response to a charge or complaint or is
in furtherance of an investigation, proceeding, hearing
or action, including but not limited to an investigation
conducted by the employer.

(7)(B)(i) No employer may do any of the following:
(I) Require, as a condition of employment, that
an employee refrain from disclosing the
amount of his or her wages or from inquiring
about or discussing the wages of other
employees.
(II) Require an employee to sign a waiver or
other document that purports to deny the
employee the right to disclose the amount
of his or her wages or to inquire about or
discuss the wages of other employees.
(ii) Unless otherwise required by law, an employer
may prohibit a human resources manager from
disclosing the wages of other employees.
(8) Retaliation prohibited. An employer, employment
agency, or labor organization shall not discharge or in
any other manner discriminate against any employee
because the employee:
(D) has disclosed his or her wages or has inquired
about or discussed the wages of other
employees.

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Endnotes
Current Population Reports: Income and Poverty in the United States: 2014, U.S. Census Bureau, September 2015.
Pay Secrecy and Wage Discrimination, Institute for Women’s Policy Research, June 2011.
3
Ibid.
4
Ibid.
5
Ibid.
6
Combating Punitive Pay Secrecy Policies, National Women’s Law Center, April 2012.
7
Additional information including coverage and available remedies may be found within the statute.
1
2

June 2016

CONTACT US
Website: www.dol.gov/wb/
E-mail: Womens.Bureau@dol.gov
Mail:
WOMEN’S BUREAU
U.S. Department of Labor
200 Constitution Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20210
Phone: 1-800-827-5335 or (202) 693-6710
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