Mayor Bibb signs Cleveland pay-transparency ordinance requiring salary ranges, banning salary-history questions

Mayor Justin Bibb signed Ordinance 104, 2025, the Cleveland Pay Transparency Ordinance, at City Hall on Friday, a measure whose sponsors say will require employers of a specified size to disclose salary ranges in job postings and prohibit asking applicants about their salary histories during the application process.

Councilwoman Stephanie House Jones, who introduced the ceremony, said the ordinance is intended to give Cleveland workers “a fair shot” by letting applicants “know what they should be paid from the onset and not later on.”

The ordinance, she said, was developed with community partners including Northeast Ohio Work Center, Collaborate Cleveland, Plexus and SEIU Local One. Councilman Charlie Slife, a co-sponsor who spoke before the signing, summarized the bill’s two central provisions: it mandates that employers meeting a size threshold disclose salary ranges in job postings, and it “prohibits them from asking about salary history within the specific application process.”

Supporters framed the measure as a tool to address wage gaps. Council President Blaine Griffin said the ordinance “promotes pay equity” and “reduces gender and racial wage…