Healy signs Frances Perkins Workplace Equity Act, requiring pay-range disclosure in Massachusetts

At a State House ceremony, Governor Healy signed the Frances Perkins Workplace Equity Act, a law that requires employers in Massachusetts to disclose pay ranges for positions and establishes new data collection to track gender and racial wage gaps. The administration and legislative sponsors framed the law as a tool to make pay disparities measurable and therefore fixable.

"You can't fix it if you can't measure it," Healy said, arguing that public reporting and employer disclosure will help close persistent gaps: she cited figures that women overall earn about 79 cents for every dollar earned by men, that Black women earn roughly 54 cents and Latina women roughly 42 cents on the dollar.

The law — named for Frances Perkins, the Massachusetts-born U.S. labor secretary under Franklin D. Roosevelt — combines proposals from multiple sponsors and coalition partners, lawmakers said. Representative Christine Barber, one of the bill’s sponsors, said the act pulls together two bills and will require employers to disclose salary and hourly wage ranges while creating a new reporting structure to produce the data the state needs.

"This is vital to eliminating wage discrimination and creating an equitable workforce," Barber said.

Treasurer Deb Goldberg and Secretary of Labor and Workforce Development Lauren Jones also spoke at the event. Jones said the Secretary of Labor’s office will work with the Secretary of State and the Attorney General’s office and that reporting expectations will be developed in collaboration with businesses and other stakeholders.

Megan Driscoll, co-chair of the Wage Equity Now Coalition, called the measure "the most comprehensive wage equity legislation in the country," and Lee Pelton of the Boston Foundation said the law aims to close what he called a "power and privilege gap" by bringing transparency and accountability to industry pay practices.

Advocates and business groups were repeatedly credited in remarks for forming a broad coalition over several years to advance the policy. Speakers described the effort as years in the making, with sponsors and coalition leaders tracking work back to discussions and bills in earlier legislative sessions.

Officials invited coalition members and guests to a ceremonial signing immediately following the podium remarks. Attendees said the administration will move forward with implementing reporting rules and guidance in coordination with the named state offices.

The signing concludes a legislative effort described by sponsors and advocates as a major step toward pay equity, while officials signaled that additional work — including rulemaking and technical assistance for employers — will follow the ceremony.