South Carolina pay transparency law: no range rule, no state equal pay act, and the written wage notice owed at hire (2026)

South Carolina has no law that requires employers to put a pay range in job postings or to give one to applicants, as of November 2026, and no general equal pay statute of its own. A full-text search of the General Assembly's 2025-2026 legislation finds no pay transparency or salary history bill. What South Carolina law does require is a written notice of wages and hours at the time of hiring, under S.C. Code 41-10-30, for employers with five or more employees. Beyond that, pay rules come from the Human Affairs Law, federal law, and the posting laws of other states when a South Carolina employer posts remote roles.

Does South Carolina require salary ranges in job postings?

No. A Charleston, Columbia, Greenville or Myrtle Beach employer may post a job with or without pay, and may ask a candidate's current salary as far as state law goes; our South Carolina salary history page covers that question, including Columbia's rule for city hiring and the reference immunity in S.C. Code 41-1-65. South Carolina is not among the posting states in our state-by-state tracker, and we found no South Carolina city or county ordinance that requires pay in job ads.

The Code itself confirms the gap. A search of the Code of Laws on the Legislature's site for the phrases "wage range" and "equal pay" returns no matches, and the two "salary range" matches are in Title 8, about state employee classification and the Agency Head Salary Commission.

Is a pay transparency bill pending in South Carolina?

No. We searched the full text of the 126th General Assembly's legislation (2025-2026) on the Legislature's site:

The only equal pay bill of the session, H. 3512, the "South Carolina State Employee Equal Pay for Equal Work Act," would apply to state agencies only. It was prefiled on December 5, 2024, introduced on January 14, 2025, and referred to the House Ways and Means Committee, with no action recorded since a scrivener's error correction on February 5, 2025.

What pay information must a South Carolina employer give a new hire?

This is the one place South Carolina law requires pay to be disclosed. Under S.C. Code 41-10-30(A), "Every employer shall notify each employee in writing at the time of hiring of the normal hours and wages agreed upon, the time and place of payment, and the deductions which will be made from the wages, including payments to insurance programs." The details:

• Posting is an alternative. The employer may instead post the terms conspicuously at or near the place of work.
• Changes need seven days. Any change in those terms must be made in writing at least seven calendar days before it takes effect, except wage increases.
• Records and pay statements. Subsection (B) requires records of names, addresses, wages paid and deductions for three years, and (C) an itemized statement of gross pay and deductions each pay period.
• Who is exempt. Section 41-10-20 says 41-10-30 does not apply to employers of domestic labor in private homes or to "employers employing fewer than five employees at all times during the preceding twelve months."
• Penalties. Under 41-10-80(A), a first violation draws a written warning from the Director of the Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation, and each later one a civil penalty of up to $100.

For recruiters, this means the offer letter is a compliance document in South Carolina even though the job ad is not. An offer that states the hourly rate or salary, normal hours, payday and standard deductions does double duty. Other notices at hire are in hiring employees in South Carolina.

What South Carolina law covers pay discrimination?

The South Carolina Human Affairs Law. S.C. Code 1-13-80(A)(1) makes it an unlawful employment practice to "discriminate against an individual with respect to the individual's compensation or terms, conditions, or privileges of employment because of the individual's race, religion, color, sex, age, national origin, or disability." Under 1-13-30(e) an employer is a person with fifteen or more employees for each working day in each of twenty or more calendar weeks in the current or preceding year. Smaller employers fall outside it.

Because there is no state equal pay act, the sex-based pay test that applies in South Carolina is the federal one. The EEOC says the Equal Pay Act covers "virtually all employers" and compares jobs that are "substantially equal"; Title VII, the ADEA and the ADA add pay discrimination claims on other grounds.

Can South Carolina cities pass pay posting ordinances?

The state has preempted one neighboring area. S.C. Code 41-1-25, added by 2017 Act No. 3, says a political subdivision "may not establish, mandate, or otherwise require an employee benefit," defined as anything of value beyond wages, such as health benefits, paid leave and retirement benefits. It does not mention job postings or pay disclosure. Columbia's wage history ordinance, the only local pay rule we found, governs the city's own hiring and is described on our salary history page.

Which federal rules apply in South Carolina?

• Discussing pay. The NLRB says employees "have the right to communicate with their coworkers about their wages," and policies that specifically prohibit wage discussion are unlawful. That covers most private-sector employees.
• Federal contractors. The pay transparency provision at 41 CFR 60-1.35 is gone. It rested on Executive Order 11246, which Executive Order 14173 revoked on January 21, 2025, and the Department of Labor's final rule removed the regulations effective October 26, 2026 (91 FR 54444). See job posting requirements for federal contractors.

When does another state's posting law reach a South Carolina job?

Rarely through geography, often through remote work. Neither neighbor, Georgia or North Carolina, has a posting law, so a Rock Hill job that draws Charlotte applicants or an Aiken job that draws Augusta applicants needs no range. The exposure comes from remote postings and reporting lines:

The full set of remote tests is in pay transparency for remote jobs.

What should recruiters and staffing agencies in South Carolina do?

1. Separate the ad from the offer. The ad may omit pay; the offer letter (or a posted notice) must state the agreed wages, normal hours, payday and deductions if the employer has five or more employees.
2. Decide where a remote role may be done and check each posting state before the ad goes live.
3. Agencies: confirm who gives the 41-10-30 notice for temporary workers on your payroll, and get the client's range in writing for multistate postings. State agency rules are in staffing agency license in South Carolina; posting for clients is in pay transparency for staffing agencies. Companies using an employer of record should read employer of record in South Carolina.
4. Ask about expectations, not current pay, so the reason for each offer is the job and the candidate's skills; see salary expectation questions.
5. Keep the three-year wage records that 41-10-30(B) requires.

Example only, with example figures: a Greenville manufacturer's offer letter reads "Maintenance technician, $27.00 an hour, 40 hours a week on second shift, paid every other Friday by direct deposit; deductions for federal and state tax, medical premium and 401(k) as elected." That satisfies 41-10-30(A) on its own. Screening rules are in background check laws in South Carolina and E-Verify requirements in South Carolina.

South Carolina pay rules at a glance