One rule · checked 19 October 2026
15 or more employees? Your California job posts need a pay range.
Labor Code 432.3 requires the pay scale in every job posting. Since January 2026, that means a good-faith estimate of what you expect to pay on hire.
The short version
Under Labor Code 432.3, an employer with 15 or more employees must put the pay scale in every job posting.
Since January 2026, that means a good-faith range you expect to pay on hire. And recruiters posting for you must include it too.
Penalties run $100 to $10,000 per violation. Fixing all open posts can excuse a first one.
Sources
Checked on 19 October 2026.
"An employer with 15 or more employees shall include the pay scale for a position in any job posting."
California Labor Code section 432.3. Subdivision (c)(3). "An employer with 15 or more employees that engages a third party to announce, post, publish, or otherwise make known a job posting shall provide the pay scale to the third party. The third party shall include the pay scale in the job posting."
California Labor Code section 432.3. Subdivision (c)(5). "'Pay scale' means a good faith estimate of the salary or hourly wage range that the employer reasonably expects to pay for the position upon hire."
California Labor Code section 432.3. Subdivision (m)(1), as amended by SB 642 from 1 January 2026. "a civil penalty of no less than one hundred dollars ($100) and no more than ten thousand dollars ($10,000) per violation."
California Labor Code section 432.3. Subdivision (d)(4).
Under subdivision (d)(4), no penalty is assessed for a first violation if the employer shows that all job postings for open positions have been updated. The Labor Commissioner's Equal Pay Act page covers the same rule in plain words.
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