While elevated job titles are "supposed to signal achievement," workers say they are increasingly being used by employers to "create the illusion of growth while holding back compensation and advancement opportunities," according to a new survey by MyPerfectResume.
Highlights from the survey of 1,000 U.S. workers:
92% of respondents said employers "use inflated job titles to create the illusion of growth while holding back compensation and advancement opportunities."
91% of respondents said employers are using title changes to "avoid giving raises."
66% of respondents said employers are "handing out impressive-sounding titles more often than in the past, without changes to pay or responsibility."
Those workers say elevated titles (that come without increased compensation) are leaving workers "feeling underpaid, misunderstood, and stuck."
More than one third (39%) of respondents say they've been "given a more senior title without a raise," and 37% said they have "felt pressured to accept a title without negotiating compensation."
41% of respondents say their job title is misleading to outside recruiters because it makes them look either overqualified or underqualified.
34% of respondents feel trapped with a "flashy title but no real path forward."
Read more via MyPerfectResume.com
Employers in Massachusetts are now subject to the state's new wage transparency law, which took effect October 29.
The law, titled An Act Relative to Salary Range Transparency, was signed into law last year.
Employers with "5 or more employees that primarily work in Massachusetts" are now required to post the salary range in job postings.
Employers must also "provide the salary range upon request to any employee looking for a promotion or a transfer."
Employees can also request the "pay range to employees for their current position."
Employers that fail to comply will be subject to penalties ranging from "a warning for the first offense to $1,000 for the third offense" and larger penalties for "subsequent offenses."
The hope is by increasing transparency about pay ranges, disparities will disappear and we will see greater equity across gender, race, nationality, and so forth."
Read more via WGBH
California Governor Gavin Newsom recently "refined" the state's 2023 Pay Transparency Act to “provide additional protections and clarity for employees.”
While the law previously "required employers to provide a pay scale for a position," there was no requirement as to "how broad that range could be."
Beginning January 1, 2026, employers will be required to "provide a good-faith estimate of the salary or hourly wage range they reasonably expect to pay upon hire, not the full potential range for the position."
Previously, the term "wages" was "ambiguous," and could include just salary, or a combination of salary and benefits like PTO or stock. Under the refined law, wages "will be clearly defined to include all forms of pay."
The law has also been adjusted to extend the statute of limitations for violations.
Read more via JD Supra
American families are facing "persistent barriers" when it comes to afterschool programs for their children, according to a new report by the nonprofit advocacy group Afterschool Alliance.
Highlights from the survey of "more than 30,500 parents":
Three-quarters (77%) of parents surveyed who "want to enroll their children in afterschool programs" said they cannot do so. The main reasons cited by respondents include "cost, accessibility and availability."
Lower-income families are more dependent on afterschool programs that rely on "federal, state or local funding streams."
84% of low-income families do not have access to afterschool programs, compared to 73% of middle-income families and 59% of high-income families.
88% of parents who have children enrolled in an afterschool program say it has a positive impact on their productivity at work.
82% of parents with children enrolled in afterschool programs say it "allows them to keep their job or work more hours."
Read more via The 74, After School Alliance
