The date for employers to comply with the workforce data filing requirement of the Massachusetts pay transparency law is approaching, and this year for the first time it includes covered state and local government employers. As part of An Act Relative to Salary Range Transparency, employers who employ more than 100 employees in Massachusetts at any point in the prior calendar year need to submit copies of EEO data reports to the Commonwealth on a schedule set out in the law. Covered private employers who file EEO-1 reports are required to submit workforce data annually on February 1. Because the February 1 filing date falls on a Sunday this year, the deadline is extended to February 2, 2026.
State and local government employers who file EEO-4 reports are required to submit workforce data only in even-numbered years, so 2026 will be the first required filing for these employers. Organizations that file EEO-3 and EEO-5 reports, including covered public elementary/secondary school systems, do not need to submit workforce data this year, as they only have to file in odd-numbered years.
Required workforce data reports can be filed through a link provided on a page on the website of the Secretary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Employers can also take advantage of FAQs from the Massachusetts Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development, which offer important information about employer obligations and compliance. The FAQs remind employers that they do not need to create new reports or make changes to existing reports in order to comply; instead, a covered employer should file the same EEO data report filed with the EEOC. The FAQs also clarify that workforce data reporting under the pay transparency law does not currently need to include wage information. As discussed in MBJ’s previous client alert, this provision of the Massachusetts pay transparency law was designed to mirror federal EEOC reporting requirements, and wage information is not currently required for EEO reporting to the EEOC at this time. If the EEOC decides that wage data is required by the EEOC in the future, it will become part of the required filings in Massachusetts.
Employers should continue to monitor compliance with all aspects of the pay transparency law, including the anti-retaliation provisions. Employers should consult their MBJ attorney with any questions that arise in connection with any aspect of this law.
Maura D. McLaughlin is a partner with Morgan, Brown & Joy, LLP, and may be reached at (617) 523-6666 or at mmclaughlin@morganbrown.com. Morgan, Brown & Joy, LLP focuses exclusively on representing employers in employment and labor matters.
This alert was prepared on January 15, 2026.
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