Read pay ranges, benefits, and state posting requirements with care.
Pay transparency makes compensation part of the information available when a person considers a role. A useful reading of a posting starts with what is stated: the pay amount or range, the benefits description, and any other compensation details. Keep unanswered questions separate from assumptions. A range is information for a conversation, rather than a promise that every applicant will receive its highest amount.
This guide describes requirements in Illinois and New Jersey. Their employee thresholds and geographic coverage differ, so neither state's requirements can be treated as a rule for every US job posting. For a practical comparison, note the job location, employer coverage, pay unit, and whether the listing is for an outside applicant or an internal opportunity.
According to the Illinois Department of Labor, requirements beginning January 1, 2025 apply to employers with 15 or more employees that make specific job postings. Covered internal and external postings must include the position's pay scale or compensation and benefits. Coverage includes work performed at least partly in Illinois, or a position reporting to a supervisor, office, or work site in Illinois.
The department says employers are not required to create a posting. When a covered employer hires a third party to share one, the requirements apply to that party's actions too. Temporary, student, part-time, seasonal, intermittent, confidential, and union-covered positions are included. A posting may link directly to that position's pay and benefits. Where no posting has been made available, the employer or employment agency must disclose pay and benefits before an offer or compensation discussion and at the applicant's request.
The New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development describes requirements effective June 1, 2025. Coverage includes employers with 10 or more employees over 20 or more calendar weeks that do business, employ people, or take employment applications within New Jersey. Job placement, referral, and other employment agencies are included.
Covered internal and external postings for jobs or transfer opportunities must include the hourly wage or salary, or a range, a general benefits description, and other compensation programs for which the employee would be eligible. The department describes a proposed limit of 60% on the spread above a range's starting point as non-binding because the proposed rules have not been adopted. Its guidance lists potential penalties up to $300 for a first violation and up to $600 for each later violation.
New Jersey's guidance calls for both a starting and an ending point. Its example is a range from $25 to $35 per hour. It identifies a missing lower endpoint, such as 'up to $35 per hour,' and a missing upper endpoint, such as '$70,000 per year and up,' as incomplete ways to present the range. These are examples from the guidance, not pay estimates for a particular career.
The benefits description deserves the same attention. The department says phrases such as 'great benefits offered' are insufficient. When comparing listings, record the stated pay and benefits separately. If a pay unit or compensation detail is unclear, turn that gap into a question rather than filling it with an estimate.
Begin a compensation conversation with the posted information and the responsibilities of the role. Explain which parts of your experience support your request, and ask how the employer relates experience to the range. Compare offers using the same pay unit, with benefits and other compensation recorded alongside base pay. Leave uncertain items marked as questions until they are explained.
National wage movement offers context, rather than an offer benchmark. The BLS Employment Cost Index series for civilian wages and salaries reported a 3.2% increase over the 12 months ending in Q2 2026, compared with 3.6% over the 12 months ending in Q2 2025. Those national figures do not establish the appropriate pay for an individual role. The salary guide provides a broader framework for evaluating compensation.
Separate a posting review into coverage and content. First identify the relevant state, employee threshold, and position's connection to that state. Then compare the posting with the stated pay, benefits, and compensation requirements. For Illinois, include third-party distribution in that review; for New Jersey, remember the inclusion of employment agencies. This keeps the review focused on the actual posting rather than on assumptions about the type of recruiter.
In a March 18, 2026 announcement, New Jersey's labor department said 42 businesses had amended or removed postings that did not meet its requirements. That account illustrates why the content of a listing matters. It does not establish that any particular posting meets a state's requirements.