Pay transparency laws generally require a good faith range — the compensation the employer genuinely expects to offer for the role at the time of posting. It is not a promise, it does not bind the employer to any point within it, and it does not stop them paying below it if circumstances change and the law permits. What it does mean is that a range chosen to be uninformative rather than to reflect a real expectation falls short of what the law asks, even where nobody will ever enforce that.
What good faith is doing in that sentence
Almost every posting law uses some version of the same phrase: the employer must state the range it reasonably and in good faith expects to pay for the position at the time of the posting. That wording is doing a good deal of careful work. It does not require accuracy, because nobody knows in advance what a particular candidate will negotiate, and it does not require the employer to pay anybody a specific figure.
What it requires is honesty about the expectation actually held at that moment. If the hiring manager knows the approved band tops out at $95,000, a posting saying up to $140,000 is not a forecast that turned out wrong. It is a statement nobody believed when they wrote it. That is the distinction the phrase is built around, and it explains why enforcement in this area tends to focus on ranges that were never plausible rather than on offers that happened to land at the bottom of a real one.
It is also why a range can be wide and still be in good faith, which trips people up. A role genuinely open to a junior and a senior candidate has a genuinely wide range, and publishing it honestly produces a number that looks evasive. Width alone does not tell you which situation you are in.
What else usually has to be in the posting
Most of these laws require more than the salary figures, though the extra requirements get much less attention. A general description of benefits and other compensation is commonly required, which means bonus, commission and equity should be mentioned even if not quantified. Some jurisdictions require a job description or a statement of the role’s core duties.
That second requirement is worth knowing about, because it is the one employers most often miss and the one that changes what you can actually work out. A posting carrying a range but no mention of a commission structure is telling you considerably less than it appears to. In sales roles the base is frequently a minority of the total, so a range covering base alone can understate the job by half. If benefits and variable pay are absent from a posting in a jurisdiction that requires them, that absence is itself worth asking about.
What a range does not commit anybody to
It does not entitle you to the top of it, or to the midpoint, or to anything in particular. A range is a description of the space the employer expects to operate in, and where you land inside that space is what the negotiation decides. Somebody offered the bottom of a posted range has not been treated unlawfully.
It also does not necessarily bind the employer for the life of the role. If the position is reposted later, or the scope changes, or the market moves, a different range may be posted, and an employee hired at the old one has no automatic claim to the new. And in most jurisdictions a range applies to the posting rather than to your ongoing employment, so it does not follow you into your next review.
Reading a compliant posting well
Treat the midpoint as the most informative single number. Employers commonly target the midpoint of a band for a solid candidate meeting the requirements, with the upper portion reserved for people exceeding them or for markets where the employer is struggling to hire. If your experience matches the posting closely, the midpoint is a more realistic expectation than the top.
Then look at the width of the range itself. A range spanning perhaps twenty to thirty percent from bottom to top is normal for a defined level and usually reflects a real band. A range spanning a factor of two is telling you the employer has not decided what level they are hiring at, which is genuinely useful information and worth asking about directly rather than treating as evasion.
Finally, check what the range is a range of, because this is the ambiguity that produces the biggest surprises. Base salary only, total cash including a target bonus, or total compensation including equity are three different quantities that can describe the same job. They produce very different numbers, and the posting does not always say which one it is using. One question settles it, and asking it before you name any figure of your own is considerably better than asking afterwards.
A worked reading
Take a posting at $85,000 to $130,000 for a role you match well on paper. That is a spread of $45,000, or about fifty-three percent from bottom to top. A spread that wide usually means the employer would consider candidates at two different levels rather than one, and would slot the successful person accordingly. It is not evasion, but it does mean the posting is describing two jobs that share a title.
The midpoint is $107,500, and if you match the stated requirements without exceeding them, that is the realistic anchor. Aiming at $130,000 requires an argument about why you sit at the top of a range built for somebody more senior, and that argument has to be about scope you would take on rather than about wanting more. Meanwhile, if the posting mentions a target bonus but the range is base only, the total picture is meaningfully higher than the numbers on the page and worth confirming before you name anything.
If the range looks unreal
Ask about it plainly, and ask early rather than late. “The posted range is fairly wide — where in it would somebody with my experience typically sit?” is a completely ordinary question and it produces one of three answers. A specific band, which is the genuinely useful outcome. An honest admission that the level is not settled, which is also useful. Or an evasion, which tells you what the range was for.
A recruiter who cannot narrow a $45,000 spread at all has either not been briefed properly or is not permitted to say. Both are worth knowing before you invest four rounds of interviews in the process. It is a fair question at any stage and asking it early costs you nothing, since no employer has ever declined to interview somebody for wanting to understand the range they published.
When a posting has no range at all
First establish whether a range was required at all, since the coverage rules turn on employer size, where the work is performed, and sometimes on whether the role was advertised publicly rather than filled internally. Plenty of postings without ranges are entirely lawful. Starting from the assumption that an omission is a violation usually leads to a frustrating conversation, and starting from the coverage question usually does not.
Where a range was required and is missing, the practical move is usually to ask for it rather than to report it, at least initially. Many omissions are administrative — a posting copied from an older template, or published through a job board that dropped the field — and a request gets it supplied. If you want to raise it formally, the enforcement route runs through the state labor agency, and how that works is covered separately in this section.
This is general information about how these requirements are structured rather than legal advice about your situation. The specifics vary by jurisdiction and are amended regularly, so your state labor agency is the place to confirm anything that matters — they will answer a question without any obligation to file a complaint.
Common questions
What does a good faith range mean?
The compensation the employer reasonably and honestly expects to pay for the role at the time of posting. It does not require accuracy, but it does rule out a range nobody believed when they wrote it.
Does a posted range entitle me to the top of it?
No. A range describes the space the employer expects to operate in, and where you land inside it is what the negotiation decides. An offer at the bottom is not unlawful.
Can a wide range still be lawful?
Yes. A role genuinely open to a junior and a senior candidate has a genuinely wide range. Width alone does not tell you whether the range was chosen honestly or chosen to be uninformative.
What else has to be in the posting?
Commonly a general description of benefits and other compensation, so bonus, commission and equity should be mentioned even if not quantified. Some jurisdictions also require a description of the role's duties.
How should I read a posted range?
Treat the midpoint as the realistic anchor if you match the requirements. Check the width — twenty to thirty percent suggests a real band, a factor of two suggests the level is undecided. And check whether it is base only or total.
What if the range seems unreal?
Ask early: where in this range would somebody with my experience typically sit? You get a specific band, an honest admission the level is unsettled, or an evasion — and all three are informative.
Does the range bind the employer later?
Generally not beyond the posting. If the role is reposted or the scope changes, a different range may apply, and it does not follow you into your next review.
What if there is no range at all?
First check whether one was required — coverage turns on employer size, where the work is performed, and sometimes whether the role was publicly advertised. Many omissions are administrative and a simple request gets it supplied.