Dive Brief:

• Qdoba has agreed to settle a proposed class-action lawsuit alleging it violated Washington state pay transparency requirements, according to recent court documents (Moliga v. Qdoba Restaurant Corp).
• An applicant sued the quick-service restaurant last year, claiming it failed to include salary ranges in its job postings. 
• The terms of the agreement were not made public. A Qdoba spokesperson said the company does not comment on legal matters, and the plaintiff’s attorneys did not respond to a request for comment.

Dive Insight:

Washington recently joined a growing list of jurisdictions that require pay transparency in some capacity.

The state law took effect Jan. 1, 2023, and requires that businesses with 15 or more employees disclose in each posting a salary range and a general description of other benefits and compensation for the role. Many employers in the state have received claims similar to the ones made against Qdoba; the law firm representing the plaintiff in Moliga also sued Adidas, Albertsons and more, according to local media.

Pay transparency laws are generally aimed at improving pay equity, particularly narrowing the gender pay gap. Whether an employer is subject to such laws or opts in to pay transparency, it’s important to set pay ranges thoughtfully, a speaker told attendees last summer at the Society for Human Resource Management’s annual conference.

By September last year, job site Indeed reported that half of U.S. job postings listed on the site included at least some employer-provided salary information — a historically high percentage for the job board.