Do you have to post a salary range in Washington, D.C. job postings?

Generally yes, more broadly than many employers expect. Coverage turns on having at least one employee in the District — not on where the company is headquartered. The D.C. Attorney General's 2025 advisory says the law reaches all job postings soliciting employees in the District, regardless of how or where the posting is created or shared. The statute does not squarely resolve every remote-work scenario, so if a posting could be filled from D.C. or your company already has a D.C. employee, including a range is the safer course.

The statute says nothing in the chapter creates a private right of action, so applicants and employees generally cannot sue directly under it. Instead, civil fines are assessed administratively by the Mayor, and the D.C. Attorney General can investigate complaints, issue subpoenas, and bring civil actions. Workers are encouraged to report violations to the Attorney General's office, which has publicly identified wage transparency as an enforcement priority.

Generally yes — and this one is in the statutory text itself, not just commentary. The Act's good-faith range provision expressly refers to the pay the employer believes it would pay for the advertised job, promotion, or transfer opportunity. If you circulate an internal req or promotion announcement for a D.C.-connected role, include the projected minimum and maximum pay.

The posting requirement itself covers the minimum and maximum projected salary or hourly pay — it does not expressly require bonuses or commissions in the posted range. Healthcare benefits are handled separately: you generally must disclose their existence to candidates before the first interview. Note that the Act defines compensation broadly for its pay-discussion protections, and wage-history restrictions can reach bonus and equity information, so confirm treatment of variable pay with counsel.

There is effectively no size threshold — one employee in the District triggers coverage, which makes this one of the broadest pay-transparency laws in the country. The employer definition (any individual, firm, association, or corporation employing at least one D.C. employee) is broad enough that staffing and recruiting firms with D.C. employees are generally treated as covered for their own postings, though the statute does not call out staffing arrangements specifically. Only the D.C. and federal governments are excluded.

Commentators note the statute does not build in an express cure period or safe harbor before a fine can issue, unlike some states' laws. That said, the fine ladder is graduated — $1,000 for a first violation, $5,000 for a second, $20,000 for each subsequent one — and no publicized enforcement to date has centered on a first-time posting mistake. Fixing noncompliant postings quickly and keeping records of good-faith ranges remains the practical protection.