Pay Scales: Wage Range Posting Is Narrow Compliance Review Is Not

Belief: the safest approach is to post a huge pay range and keep flexibility.

California’s pay scale focus is now on whether the posted wage range reflects what the employer reasonably expects to pay upon hire. Placeholder ranges, promotional ceilings, and “cover everything” bands create risk when they don’t match actual hiring intent.

Keep one distinction clean. The posting rule is about the wage range itself. It does not require publishing the value of insurance, holidays, vacation, sick time, or other benefits inside the posted wage range. Employers can describe benefits separately.

At the same time, compensation decisions can be examined more broadly later for consistency and equity. Treat the pay scale posting as one compliance requirement, not the entire compliance system.

Fix the process: set ranges based on real hiring intent, keep role-and-location specificity, and document the placement rules your team uses when two candidates land at different points in the range.

This post shares general information based on common patterns I see in California workplaces. It is not legal advice, does not create an attorney-client relationship, and outcomes depend on specific facts — no lawyer can guarantee a result. Past results do not guarantee or predict future outcomes. AI may have been used to create this post. All content reviewed by a CA attorney before publication. This post may be attorney advertising.

Michael Trust Law, APC, 703 Pier Avenue, Ste. B367, Hermosa Beach, CA 90254: michaeltrustlaw.com