Pennsylvania has no statewide pay transparency law requiring private employers to publish salary ranges in job postings. What the state does have is an Equal Pay Law that prohibits gender-based wage discrimination, a Philadelphia ordinance banning salary history questions, and a federal right to discuss pay with coworkers. Bills that would add a salary range posting requirement have been introduced but have not passed as of mid-2026.
What Pennsylvania Law Currently Requires on Pay
The Pennsylvania Equal Pay Law, at 43 P.S. §§ 336.1 through 336.10, is the closest thing the state has to a pay transparency framework, and it isn’t really that. It doesn’t force employers to reveal what a job pays. It prohibits paying employees of one gender less than employees of another gender for work that demands equal skill, effort, and responsibility under similar conditions.
Employers can defend a pay gap if it stems from a seniority system, a merit system, or a system measuring output by quantity or quality of production. Outside those categories, unequal pay for equivalent work violates the statute.
If an employer knowingly and willfully violates the law, you can recover your unpaid wages plus an equal amount in liquidated damages, so the total can reach double what you were shorted. Courts can also award reasonable attorney fees and costs. You don’t have to bring the claim alone: the Secretary of Labor and Industry can take an assignment of your wage claim and pursue it on your behalf.1Pennsylvania General Assembly. Pennsylvania Statutes Title 43 P.S. Labor 336.5
Claims generally must be filed within two years of the violation, with a three-year window for willful infractions. These protections are reactive. They give you a remedy after unequal pay occurs, but they don’t force an employer to disclose what a role pays before you accept it.
Pending Bills That Would Require Salary Ranges
Two proposals from the 2025–2026 legislative session would change the disclosure picture. House Bill 560 would amend the Equal Pay Law to add pay range disclosure requirements. It was referred to the House Labor and Industry Committee in February 2025 and has not advanced.2Pennsylvania General Assembly. House Bill 560 Information Senator Amanda Cappelletti introduced a co-sponsorship memo for Senate Bill 1045, which would require employers to disclose the pay range on job postings, or the minimum compensation when no range exists.3Pennsylvania General Assembly. Senate Co-Sponsorship Memo 47384 Information
Neither has reached a floor vote, and Pennsylvania has considered similar proposals in prior sessions without success. Roughly a dozen states now require pay range disclosure, and neighbors including New York and New Jersey have enacted their own versions.
Philadelphia’s Salary History Ban
Philadelphia is the only jurisdiction in Pennsylvania with a broad pay transparency ordinance reaching private employers. The Wage Equity Ordinance, at Philadelphia Code § 9-1131, does not require salary ranges in postings. It prohibits employers from asking applicants about wage history at any stage of hiring.4American Legal Publishing Code Library. Philadelphia Code 9-1131 – Wage Equity
The ban covers paper and electronic applications, interviews, and any other point in consideration. Employers cannot require you to disclose what you earned at a previous job, condition an interview on that disclosure, or retaliate against you for refusing to answer.4American Legal Publishing Code Library. Philadelphia Code 9-1131 – Wage Equity
One exception: if you voluntarily and knowingly share your past wages, the employer may use that information. Voluntary is the operative word. An employer that steers the conversation toward salary history, or conditions the process on disclosure, has crossed the line.4American Legal Publishing Code Library. Philadelphia Code 9-1131 – Wage Equity
If an employer violates the ordinance, you can report the violation to the Philadelphia Commission on Human Relations, which handles enforcement. The Commission can award compensatory damages, punitive damages, reasonable attorney fees and costs, and injunctive relief.5City of Philadelphia. Philadelphia Wage Equity Ordinance FAQs You must prove a violation by a preponderance of the evidence.6City of Philadelphia. Wage Equity Ordinance Amended Regulation No. 7
Pittsburgh passed a salary history ban in January 2017, but it applies only to the city as an employer, not to private employers in Pittsburgh. If you’re applying for a private-sector job there, no local rule stops the employer from asking about your salary history.
When Another State’s Law Reaches a Pennsylvania Job Seeker
Even without a Pennsylvania mandate, other states’ pay transparency laws often reach Pennsylvania workers through remote work. Colorado, California, New York, Washington, Connecticut, and Illinois require salary ranges in postings under various conditions, and several of these laws apply based on where the work is performed or where the employer recruits, not just where the employer is headquartered.
A Pennsylvania-based company advertising a remote position and recruiting in a state with a disclosure law may fall under that state’s requirements. A Pennsylvania resident applying to a remote role at a company based in Colorado or New York will often see a salary range on the posting because the employer must comply with the law where it operates.
The list is still growing. Maine and Virginia both enacted pay disclosure requirements taking effect in 2026, and Delaware’s law takes effect in 2027. Many multi-state employers adopt the most restrictive standard across every posting rather than tailoring ads by jurisdiction, so Pennsylvania applicants often see ranges anyway.
Your Right to Discuss Pay With Coworkers
Most private-sector workers in Pennsylvania already have a federal right to talk about pay at work. Section 7 of the National Labor Relations Act protects employees’ right to engage in “concerted activities for the purpose of collective bargaining or other mutual aid or protection.”7Office of the Law Revision Counsel. United States Code Title 29 Section 157 The National Labor Relations Board has consistently read this to cover discussions with coworkers about wages, benefits, and other working conditions.8National Labor Relations Board. Concerted Activity
Your employer cannot fire you, discipline you, or threaten you for discussing your pay with a colleague during a break or outside work hours.8National Labor Relations Board. Concerted Activity Policies that prohibit sharing salary information or discourage pay discussions are unlawful, and plenty of employers still have them written down. If you’ve been told you can’t talk about what you make, that rule almost certainly violates federal law.
Employers can put reasonable limits on timing. They can ask you not to discuss pay while you’re supposed to be actively working, the same way they can restrict personal phone calls. They cannot ban the conversations, and they cannot single out wage discussions for restrictions that don’t apply to other non-work topics.
If an employer retaliates, the NLRB can order the employer to stop the practice, reinstate you if you were fired, and pay back wages for the period of termination.9Office of the Law Revision Counsel. United States Code Title 29 Section 160 Filing an unfair labor practice charge with the NLRB costs nothing, and you don’t need a lawyer, though one helps in complex cases.
Workers the NLRA Doesn’t Cover
The NLRA excludes federal, state, and local government employees, agricultural workers, domestic workers, independent contractors, and workers covered by the Railway Labor Act. Supervisors are excluded too, and the NLRB decides supervisory status based on actual job duties, not title.10National Labor Relations Board. Employee Rights If you have genuine authority to hire, fire, or discipline other employees, you likely qualify as a supervisor and lose these wage-discussion protections.
Public-Sector Salaries Are Public Records
If the employer is a government agency, the picture flips. Under the Pennsylvania Right-to-Know Law, at 65 P.S. §§ 67.101 through 67.3104, salaries of state and local government employees are public records. The Commonwealth publishes state employee salary data through its PennWatch portal, and anyone can look up what a specific state employee earns without filing a formal request. Private employer payroll is proprietary, and no Pennsylvania law compels its disclosure to the public.