Wage history and wage range.
HB 1300 creates a new chapter in the Indiana Code regulating how employers may use wage history and how they must disclose wage ranges in hiring and promotion processes. The bill generally prohibits employers from asking for, relying on, or searching for an applicant’s prior wage history when making hiring or pay decisions, and it bars employers from refusing to interview, hire, promote, or employ someone, or retaliating against them, because they did not provide wage history. It does allow limited use of wage history after an initial compensation offer if the applicant voluntarily provides it and only to support a higher wage than the offer, subject to existing equal-pay protections.
The bill also requires employers to disclose the wage or wage range and a general description of benefits and other compensation in public and internal postings for jobs, promotions, transfers, and other opportunities. In addition, employers must provide current employees with the wage or wage range and benefits information upon hire, promotion, transfer, or upon request. The Department of Labor would enforce the chapter, investigate complaints, issue warnings for first violations, and impose civil penalties for repeat violations, with collected penalties going to the state general fund.
HB 1300 would affect Indiana employers broadly, including private employers and governmental entities, by adding new disclosure and anti-inquiry obligations to hiring and compensation practices. It also creates a public accountability mechanism by requiring the Department of Labor to maintain a list of employers with four or more violations and send it to the chief equity, inclusion, and opportunity officer for posting on the state equity data portal. The bill is set to take effect July 1, 2025.
Because there are no committee transcripts or recorded votes in the provided material, there is no documented floor or committee sentiment to assess from the legislative record here. Based on the bill text alone, the measure appears aimed at pay transparency and reducing reliance on prior salary in compensation decisions, with an emphasis on preventing wage discrimination and retaliation. Any contention would likely center on employer compliance burdens, the scope of required wage-range disclosures, and the limits on using wage history after an offer is made, but no specific objections or supporters are identified in the provided context.
HB 1300 would add IC 22-2-20 to the Indiana Code, creating new statewide rules for wage-history inquiries, wage-range disclosures, complaint procedures, civil penalties, and public reporting of repeat violators. It would regulate hiring and compensation practices for employers, including public employers, by prohibiting reliance on prior salary in most circumstances and requiring wage and benefits transparency in job postings and employee notices. The Department of Labor would gain enforcement authority, and the chief equity, inclusion, and opportunity officer would be required to publish a list of employers with repeated violations on the equity data portal.
No committee discussion or vote record was provided, so there is no direct evidence of legislative sentiment from hearings or roll calls. The bill’s structure suggests a policy goal of expanding pay transparency and limiting salary-history-based discrimination, which typically appeals to advocates of equity and fair-pay reforms. At the same time, the absence of recorded debate means there is no documented opposition or support in the supplied materials.
The main likely points of contention are the employer obligations to disclose wage ranges and benefits in all job-related postings, the prohibition on seeking or relying on wage history, and the enforcement scheme that includes complaints, investigations, civil penalties, employee notification, and public posting of repeat violators. Employers may view the bill as administratively burdensome or intrusive, while supporters would likely argue it promotes pay equity and prevents perpetuation of past wage disparities. No specific stakeholders are identified in the provided record, and no formal objections or amendments are included.