It is Sunday night and the job posting is half written. Then the owner gets to the wage field. She thinks about what she pays the two people already doing the job, picks a number above the higher one, adds two dollars, and posts it. The whole thing takes about four minutes.
As of October 1, that field is a requirement. Public Act 26-12, Connecticut’s omnibus workforce act, replaces Conn. Gen. Stat. § 31-40z that day and obligates an employer to disclose the wages or wage range for a position, plus a general description of the benefits offered with it, in any internal or public job advertisement. No employer size threshold applies. The act reaches any employer using the services of one or more employees for pay, so a twenty person restaurant in Newington is fully covered.
I understand why the four minute version happens. It is the smallest possible version of this work. The version worth your time costs you real hours this fall, and it leaves a pay structure you will still be using three years from now.
What actually happens when the range goes in
What actually happens is that an estimated range is added to a single job posting based on what the current need is. In that situation, the range is likely made up of what the owner currently pays for the role. The act defines a wage range as the range of wages an employer sets in good faith for the position.
I would recommend a different approach: taking time to look at all roles, by description, and looking at their ranges together. Is there overlap? Is there good enough incentive to stay and move through positions? Is there meaningful differentiation of pay and responsibilities to compensate for differing levels of responsibility?
It takes an investment of time and some research, because employers want to ensure they are paying competitively in the market to attract the best talent. What owners underestimate is how often things change, so I would recommend an annual review of roles and of market pay.
The questions that come after you post
Everyone who is in a role that gets posted is going to see the top of the range and wonder how they get there. In a February 2023 SHRM survey of 1,386 HR professionals, 36% of organizations that started posting ranges said it caused more current employees to ask about a raise. Decide your answer before the posting goes up. Is it increased performance? Is it a specific milestone hit? Make sure both you and anyone who leads people is ready to answer these questions.
That pressure moves money. An NBER study of ten state posting laws, using wage data covering 97% of US workers, found realized wages rose 1.3%, and incumbent employees got the raise too, not only new hires.
An employee asks why the new person came in where they did. A prepared owner points to specific criteria that support the different rate. If you bring in a cashier with years of retail experience, you might bring them in higher than someone who started before them with no experience. Then give that employee a clear path on how to get to the top of the range and how often ranges will be reviewed. The more specific, the better. Vague answers and a lack of follow up are a sure way to lose this employee and likely reduce morale overall.
What to write, and what it buys you
The line that does the most work in a posting is the one explaining how offers get determined. Something specific about how years of experience, specific skills, or a particular credential influences where in the range someone falls helps a lot. A range of $18 to $22 is more useful to a candidate when it is followed with “top candidates will be eligible for the higher end of the range with 3+ years restaurant experience and ServSafe certification.”
A 2026 study in the Journal of Applied Psychology, covering nearly 10 million US postings, found that wide posted ranges disproportionately deter women from applying, and that adding brief context about how offers are determined eliminated the observed gender gap.
The old culture of “we don’t discuss pay” is not only dated, it’s illegal to enforce. Connecticut employees have a statutory right to discuss and disclose wages under Conn. Gen. Stat. § 31-40z, and most private-sector employees have a parallel federal right to discuss wages, benefits, and working conditions under the National Labor Relations Act. So the posting requirement is a chance for owners to get current with the present day.
Before the first posting goes up
A second requirement in the same act is the one owners miss. An existing employee is entitled to the wage range and the benefits description on hiring, on a change in position, and on first request. Someone can ask on October 2. So make sure you have a strong understanding of where the whole team sits within the range before you post anything. You would not want to post a job with a range that someone working for you is not currently in, and I would advise against it at all costs. Be ready to answer how the range was identified and how a person gets to the top of the range.
If you do one thing Monday morning, start with some current job descriptions and get some external research on wages, whether it is local wage ranges, Salary.com, or BLS data, to identify ranges for your roles. Then ensure everyone you employ is within the range before posting.
Need an extra hand? Send me an email.