Pay transparency for staffing agencies: who is liable for the range, and how to get it from the client
On this page
A staffing agency writes more job ads than most employers, for clients in more states, often from a two-line email that contains no pay figure at all. Pay transparency laws do not let the agency off because the job belongs to the client. Most either name employment agencies and recruiters directly or say that a posting made through a third party must meet the same rule. A few carve out temporary help firms, but in ways that differ state to state. This page covers the agency-specific questions: when the agency itself is liable, which number to post, how temp and direct hire differ, and what to collect from the client before an ad goes live.
Not legal advice. The rules below were checked against the statutes and agency guidance linked in the text and in each state guide, as of October 2026. Agency coverage is one of the least settled areas of these laws. Confirm with counsel in the states where you place.
How the laws reach agencies
| Approach | Examples | What it means for the agency |
|---|---|---|
| Agencies named as covered parties | New York (employment agents and recruiters), Nevada (employment agencies; penalties can reach an agent or representative), Illinois (employment agencies directly responsible) | The agency has its own duty and its own exposure |
| Third-party postings covered | California, Washington, Maine, Maryland, British Columbia | The agency's ad must meet the same rule as the client's own ad |
| Duty on the employer, agency ad counts as the employer's | Vermont, D.C., Massachusetts, Ontario | The client carries the fine and will expect the agency to get it right |
| Temporary help firms treated differently | New York (excluded), New Jersey (disclose at interview or hire instead of in the ad) | Depends on whose payroll the worker will be on |
California's Labor Code 432.3(c)(5) is the clearest example of a split duty: an employer with 15 or more employees that engages a third party to post a job "shall provide the pay scale to the third party," and "the third party shall include the pay scale in the job posting." Washington's RCW 49.58.110 defines a posting to include recruitment done "indirectly through a third party," and its cure provision expects the employer to contact any third-party posting entity with a demand to correct.
Temp versus direct hire
Whose payroll the worker lands on can change the rule entirely.
- New York. Labor Law 194-b covers any entity "acting as an employment agent or recruiter, or otherwise connecting applicants with employers," but excludes a temporary help firm as defined in Labor Law 916(5). A firm placing its own W-2 temps on assignment falls in the exclusion; the same firm doing a direct-hire search for a client does not.
- New Jersey. The Department of Labor says temporary help service firms and consulting firms need not put the wage and benefits in the ad, but must give that information at the time of interview or hire. The duty moves; it does not disappear.
- Ontario. Temporary help agencies count their assignment employees toward their own 25-employee threshold, so an agency with 25 or more workers in total is covered for its own postings. When an agency posts for a client, the client is responsible for making sure the posting complies.
- Everywhere else, assume an agency ad for a temp role needs the same range as any other ad.
Pay rate, not bill rate
The posted figure is what the worker will be paid. The bill rate includes your markup and is not the worker's compensation. Posting the bill rate overstates what the candidate will earn, which fails the good-faith test, and tells the client's competitors your margin. If the pay rate is not fixed because it depends on the final bill rate the client approves, post the pay range you would actually offer within the client's budget, and keep the arithmetic in the job order. The staffing markup guide shows how pay rate, burden and bill rate relate.
For hourly temp roles, post an hourly rate or hourly range. For contract-to-hire, post the contract pay rate and, if you know it, the expected salary range on conversion, labeled as such.
Evergreen, pipeline and confidential searches
- Evergreen ads. Washington's statute covers solicitations for "a specific available position," and BC and Ontario exclude general recruitment campaigns that do not advertise a specific position. A "we are always hiring nurses" ad may fall outside those rules; an ad that names a role, a shift and qualifications looks like a posting and should carry a range.
- Confidential searches. Not naming the client does not remove the range. Post the range without the client's name.
- Roles you never advertise. Several states still require disclosure on request or before pay is discussed. Nevada requires the range once an applicant completes an interview, whether or not they ask, and Connecticut requires it before any discussion of compensation for a role that was never advertised to the applicant.
Getting the range from the client
Most agency compliance failures start at intake. The client says "competitive" or "depends on the candidate," and the recruiter posts anyway. Make the range a hard stop.
- Ask for a written minimum and maximum the client would genuinely pay, plus benefits and any bonus or commission. The job order form template has the fields.
- Ask where the hire can work and which office they report to, because that decides which states' rules apply. See pay transparency for remote jobs.
- Ask the client's headcount, since several thresholds (California 15, Massachusetts 25, Hawaii 50) turn on the client's size, not yours.
- If the client refuses, explain that the law in many states puts the duty on the agency's ad as well, and do not post. A client that will not give a range for a posting will not give a candidate one either.
- Put it in the contract. Require the client to provide a good-faith range in writing, to tell you when it changes, and to share responsibility for its accuracy. The contingency recruiting agreement template is a starting point. Contract terms allocate cost between you; they do not stop a regulator from naming the agency.
When the client's range is not credible
Sometimes a client gives a range the agency knows will not fill the role, or one so wide it says nothing. Both are problems for the agency, not just the client.
- Too low. Posting a range you believe is below what the client will end up paying is not a good-faith estimate. Show the client the candidates you could reach at their number and at the market number, and ask them to choose before you post. How to hire when you can't match salary covers the conversation.
- Too wide. A range like $60,000 to $160,000 for one role invites complaints and fails Ontario's $50,000 cap and New Jersey's proposed 60% spread rule. Ask what the client would pay a strong candidate at the level described in the job order, and post that band.
- Different from the client's own ad. If the client posts the same role directly with a different range, candidates notice and regulators can compare. Use one range across both.
How to set salary ranges for job postings walks through building a range the client can defend.
Syndication and keeping copies in sync
Agencies push one ad to many boards. When a client changes the range, every copy needs the change, and in states with cure windows (Washington five business days, Massachusetts two) the clock does not wait for a weekly refresh. Keep a list of every place each req is posted, and save each version as published with the date. Ontario requires employers to keep every version of a posting for three years, and an investigation anywhere will ask what the ad said on the day of the complaint.
On the screen and in the submittal
State the range on the first call, before the candidate asks, and do not ask what they earn now. Several of the same laws ban salary history questions, and Nevada's penalty reaches an employer's agent. Record the candidate's expectation, not their current pay, in the candidate submittal. If your calls are transcribed, for example with Interview Signal, the line where you stated the range is on record with a timestamp, which answers the question "was the range given after the interview" without relying on memory.
For licensing, which is a separate question from pay transparency, see employment agency license requirements, and for how liability is shared with clients more broadly, joint employer liability for staffing agencies.
Questions people ask
Do pay transparency laws apply to staffing agencies?
Yes, in most states that have them. Some name agencies and recruiters directly, such as New York, Nevada and Illinois. Others, such as California, Washington and Maine, cover postings made by a third party on the employer's behalf. A few carve out true temporary help firms in specific ways, so check the state guide.
Should a staffing agency post the pay rate or the bill rate?
The pay rate, meaning what the worker will be paid. The bill rate is what the client pays the agency and includes the markup; it is not the worker's compensation and posting it would misstate what the candidate would earn.
Are temp agencies exempt from New York's pay transparency law?
A temporary help firm, as defined in New York Labor Law section 916, is excluded from the definition of employer in section 194-b. A search firm or agency placing a candidate on the client's own payroll is covered, so agencies running both models need to know which applies to each req.
Who is liable if a client gives the agency a range that turns out to be wrong?
Usually both can be. California makes the employer give the pay scale to the third party and makes the third party include it. Your contract should require the client to supply a good-faith range in writing and to tell you when it changes, but that does not remove the agency's own exposure.
Do evergreen or pipeline postings need a pay range?
Possibly not where the law covers only specific positions. Washington defines a posting as a solicitation for a specific available position, and BC and Ontario exclude general recruitment campaigns that do not advertise a specific position. If an evergreen ad describes a specific role with qualifications, treat it as a posting.