May 28, 2025
City of Cleveland Passes Bold Wage Transparency Legislation
In April, Cleveland City Council passed the boldest wage transparency legislation in the State of Ohio. Its passage was the results of months and months of work led by The Cleveland Pay Equity Alliance, a committee of 40 partner organizations, led by Collaborate Cleveland and the Northeast Ohio Worker Center.
This policy, which was signed into law by Mayor Justin Bibb and Council President Blaine Griffin in May, bans employers with more than 15 employees from requesting past salary history, and requires that they include salary ranges in their job descriptions. This policy will help address the gender wage gap, promote fair compensation, and create efficiencies in the hiring process by ensuring all applicants are on a level playing field when job searching.
Currently, the gender wage gap leads women to earn 83 cents for every dollar a white man would earn. Black women earn 66 cents on the dollar and Latina women earn 58 cents on the dollar. The wage gap has serious life-long consequences. It impacts women’s ability to stay in the workforce after having a child and the amount of wealth a woman accumulates over her lifetime.
There will be consequences for employers that violate these laws. Applicants can file a complaint with the Fair Employment Wage Board (FEWB), the board will investigate the complaint and, if the complaint is valid, work to resolve the complaint. The FEWB has the authority to assess a penalty of up to $5,000.
Twenty-two states, and dozens of cities including Cincinnati, Columbus, and Toledo, have already passed pay transparency legislation. This gave Cleveland several strong models to follow when crafting the policy. It has also taught us that real work begins with implementation.
The work to address the gender pay gap is just beginning. Collaborate Cleveland will continue to work with the the City of Cleveland, the FEWB, and the Pay Equity Alliance to ensure this new law is implemented quickly and effectively so that the gender pay gap continues to close.
Click here to view the pay transparency legislation in full.
