A good-faith salary range is a minimum and maximum that reflects what the employer genuinely expects or is willing to pay for the specific job at the time the posting is published. Official guidance in states such as New York, Illinois, Colorado and Washington rejects the idea that an employer can post an arbitrary or open-ended range simply to satisfy a disclosure field. Employers should base the range on real compensation inputs such as the approved hiring budget, current pay for comparable roles, job level, market conditions and the qualifications they are prepared to accept. A later offer outside the range may be possible where circumstances genuinely change, but the original range still needs to have been truthful when posted.
Jurisdiction: United States
Good Faith Means the Range Must Be Real When the Posting Goes Live
The central idea is that the range should represent the employer's genuine compensation expectations at the time the advertisement is posted. New York describes good faith as the range the employer legitimately believes it is willing to pay. Colorado allows a range from the lowest to highest pay the employer in good faith believes it might pay. Washington expects the employer's most reasonable and genuinely expected range. Illinois similarly asks whether the employer actually believes it might pay the stated amounts. The wording differs, but the practical theme is consistent: the numbers should come from a real hiring decision rather than from a compliance-only placeholder.
Use Approved Compensation Inputs to Build the Range
A defensible range normally starts with the approved compensation plan for the role. Useful inputs include the hiring budget, job level, existing salaries for comparable employees, geographic differentials, market data, internal equity and the qualifications the employer is prepared to accept. New York's official guidance specifically identifies the job market, current employee compensation, hiring budget, and acceptable experience and education as relevant factors. The employer should be able to trace the posted minimum and maximum back to those inputs. If a recruiter cannot explain where the range came from, that is a sign the process needs stronger compensation governance.
Open-Ended Ranges Can Fail the Transparency Purpose
Several jurisdictions reject formulations that leave one end of the range undefined. New York says a range such as '$17 an hour and up' is not acceptable. Illinois guidance similarly rejects expressions such as '$40,000 and up' or 'up to $60,000' because they do not give the applicant both boundaries. Washington also instructs employers to use a clear lowest and highest pay amount rather than open-ended phrases. If an employer genuinely intends to pay a fixed amount, some laws allow that fixed amount to be disclosed instead. The posting should communicate a real pay opportunity rather than an unlimited or incomplete interval.
An Extremely Broad Range May Be Hard to Defend
A range can include legitimate variation for experience, geography or role level, but breadth should have an explanation. New York warns that a range so broad that it prevents an applicant from understanding the legitimate pay range is not in good faith unless further information explains the breadth. Illinois states that an extremely broad range may raise compliance questions and encourages employers to preserve records explaining why the range is wide. Where one advertisement covers multiple locations or seniority levels, a better approach may be to list separate ranges for each location or level instead of one oversized range that obscures the actual opportunity.
The Final Offer Can Differ When Circumstances Genuinely Change
Good faith is judged when the range is posted, not by mechanically requiring every final offer to fall inside it. New York allows an employer to revise a posting when the hiring budget changes and recognizes that an unusually qualified applicant may justify an offer above the original range. Colorado's rules similarly state that an employer may ultimately pay more or less if the posted range was a good-faith and reasonable estimate at the time. Illinois also states that the final offer can differ where the posted information was created and disclosed in good faith. Employers should document the changed circumstance rather than using this flexibility to excuse an inaccurate initial range.
Preserve Evidence of How the Range Was Set
The best evidence of good faith is a contemporaneous record showing how the minimum and maximum were selected. Employers can preserve the approved requisition, budget, compensation band, geographic adjustment, comparable-role data, recruiter instructions and any explanation for a broad range. This record does not need to become part of the public posting, but it can help demonstrate that the range reflected a real compensation decision. It also supports consistent treatment across similar jobs and makes later audits easier when several recruiters or hiring managers are publishing positions under the same pay transparency framework.
Good Faith Is a Process, Not Just a Phrase in the Posting
Adding the words good faith to an internal policy does not make a range defensible. Compensation, recruiting and legal teams need a repeatable process for approving the range before publication, updating it when circumstances change and retaining evidence of the decision. The process should also address multi-location postings, fixed-rate jobs, commission roles and situations where the employer uses a narrower hiring range than the full internal pay band. The objective is to ensure that the applicant sees a range that meaningfully represents the employer's actual pay opportunity at that point in time.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can an employer post a very broad salary range?
A broad range may be lawful if it genuinely reflects the opportunity and can be explained, but official guidance in states such as New York and Illinois warns that unjustifiably broad ranges can undermine good-faith compliance.
Can a salary range say '$60,000 and up'?
Several state agencies reject open-ended ranges because they do not provide both a minimum and maximum. A fixed amount may be used where the law permits and the employer truly offers one fixed rate.
Can an employer offer more than the posted maximum?
In several jurisdictions, yes, if the original range was genuine when posted and circumstances later changed, such as a higher hiring budget or an unusually qualified candidate.
Related Guides
Official Sources
Requirements and practices differ by jurisdiction and organisation. Check current local law, official guidance and professional advice for a specific situation.