Indiana pay transparency law: no range required, local rules limited, Illinois next door (2026)

Indiana has no statewide law that requires private employers to put a pay range in job postings, as of October 2026, and no law that bars asking candidates about salary history. The 2026 edition of the Indiana Code's labor title, Title 22, contains neither rule. It does contain a limit on local government: under IC 22-2-16-3, a city or county may not require employers to provide terms or working conditions beyond state and federal law. So the rules that reach an Indiana posting come from elsewhere: the federal Equal Pay Act and Title VII, the federal right to discuss pay, and the posting laws of other states, above all Illinois for jobs that are done in Illinois or report to an Illinois office.

Does Indiana require a salary range in job postings?

No. Title 22 regulates minimum wage, wage payment, child labor, and a range of hiring topics, but nothing in it tells an employer what a job advertisement must say about pay, and nothing in it mentions salary history in hiring. An Indiana employer may leave pay out of a posting, may ask a candidate what they earn now, and may use the answer in setting an offer, as far as state law goes. Our guide to hiring employees in Indiana covers the rest of the state's hiring rules.

Can an Indiana city require pay ranges?

Probably not for private employers. IC 22-2-16-3, added in 2013 and amended in 2016, says that unless federal or state law provides otherwise, a unit "may not establish, mandate, or otherwise require an employer to provide to an employee who is employed within the jurisdiction of the unit" a benefit, a term of employment, a working condition, or an attendance, scheduling or leave policy "that exceeds the requirements of federal or state law, rules, or regulations."

Two details matter. First, IC 22-2-16-1 carves out a unit's own employees, the terms of a unit's contracts with third parties, and the conditions attached to tax breaks, grants, loans and other economic development incentives. A city could therefore set pay posting rules for its own jobs or write them into its contracts and incentive agreements. Second, the section speaks of what an employer must provide "to an employee"; whether a rule about what a job advertisement tells an applicant falls inside it has not been tested. Either way, the statute makes a citywide posting mandate for private employers an unlikely bet.

Indiana has taken the same approach to criminal history: IC 22-2-17-3, added in 2017, bars political subdivisions from stopping employers from asking about criminal history on the initial application. See background check laws in Indiana.

What does Indiana law say about equal pay?

Indiana has a sex-based pay rule, but few employers are covered by it. IC 22-2-2-4 bars an employer from paying employees of one sex less than employees of the opposite sex in the same establishment "for equal work on jobs the performance of which requires equal skill, effort, and responsibility," with exceptions for seniority, merit, production-based pay, and "any other factor other than sex." It sits in Indiana's minimum wage law, and that law's definition of employer in IC 22-2-2-3 covers employers with two or more employees but "shall not include any employer who is subject to the minimum wage provisions" of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act. Most Indiana businesses are subject to the FLSA, so for them the federal rules below do the work.

Which federal rules apply to Indiana employers?

• Equal Pay Act. The EEOC's equal pay page explains that men and women in the same workplace must get equal pay for equal work; the jobs "need not be identical, but they must be substantially equal," and job content, not title, decides it. It covers virtually all employers.
• Title VII, the ADA and the ADEA prohibit compensation discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability or age; Title VII and the ADA apply at 15 or more employees.
• Pay discussions. The NLRB lists "openly talking about your pay and benefits" among the concerted activities the National Labor Relations Act protects.
• Federal contractors. The OFCCP pay transparency provision at 41 CFR 60-1.35 is not in force. Executive Order 14173 revoked Executive Order 11246, its basis, on January 21, 2025, and the Department of Labor's final rule removed the order's regulations, including 60-1.35, effective October 26, 2026 (91 FR 54444). Contractors' employees keep the NLRA right to discuss pay described above, as most private-sector employees do. The VEVRAA and Section 503 duties are separate; see job posting requirements for federal contractors.

When does Illinois law reach an Indiana job?

Often, if you hire around Chicago. The Illinois Equal Pay Act requires employers with 15 or more employees to include "the pay scale and benefits for a position in any specific job posting" (820 ILCS 112/10(b-25)). It applies to positions that "will be physically performed, at least in part, in Illinois" or that are performed outside Illinois "but the employee reports to a supervisor, office, or other work site in Illinois." See the Illinois pay transparency guide for the full rule.

The Illinois statute also reaches agencies. If an employer uses a third party to post the job, the employer must give it the pay scale and benefits, and "the third party is liable for failure to include" them unless it can show the employer did not provide them. For a remote role open across many states, the remote jobs guide explains the coverage tests other states use.

What about Indiana bills in 2025 and 2026?

We did not identify a 2025 or 2026 Indiana bill that would require pay ranges in postings or ban salary history questions, and the 2026 Code contains no such rule. Bill records are on the Indiana General Assembly's site; check there for filings in the 2027 session.

What should recruiters and staffing agencies hiring in Indiana do?

1. Map each req to a location and a reporting line. The Illinois test turns on both, so ask at intake who the hire will report to and where that person sits.
2. Post a range when the role touches Illinois or another posting state, and have one ready for every other role; see how to set salary ranges for job postings.
3. Ask about expectations rather than history on reqs that could be filled from a state that bans the question; salary expectation questions has wording.
4. Agencies: get the client's pay scale and benefits in writing before posting any Illinois-linked role, since Illinois puts liability on the third party that posts. For Indiana agency rules see staffing agency license in Indiana, and for pay postings pay transparency for staffing agencies.
5. Document the reason for each offer. Under the Equal Pay Act the employer has to justify a gap with a factor other than sex, and a short note made at the time is the best evidence.

Example only: an Indianapolis staffing firm posts a customer success role for a client in Carmel. If the role is on site in Carmel, Indiana law requires no range. If the client's manager for the role sits in Chicago, the same ad needs the pay scale and benefits, or a link to them, under Illinois law.

Indiana pay rules at a glance

An Indiana posting checklist

INDIANA POSTING CHECKLIST (as of October 2026)

[ ] Where is the job done, and where does the hire's manager sit?
[ ] Any Illinois link (work days or manager in Illinois)? Pay scale +
    benefits, or a link to them, in the posting
[ ] Remote role: check each state the ad is open to
[ ] Indiana-only role: range optional under state law; have one ready
[ ] Multistate screen asks about expectations, not pay history
[ ] Offer reason written down (range, placement, approver)
[ ] Handbook has no pay-secrecy rule
[ ] Agency: client's pay scale and benefits received in writing