We like to think numbers are neutral. Post a range, satisfy a rule, move on. But in practice, a salary range is a story: a public promise about who you are as an employer and how decisions get made when nobody’s in the room.

With the October 29 go-live for Massachusetts pay transparency, that story becomes visible. In this conversation, Kyle Pardo and Dan Baker map the terrain employers actually face on deadline day—what must change in your postings and internal moves, what “good-faith” looks like in the real world, and why “set-and-forget” quickly unravels once hiring pressure shows up.

Then we zoom out. Because transparency is both a superficial checkbox, and also a organizational mirror. Handle it well and you compress time in your hiring funnel, reduce second-guessing inside teams, and earn the trust that makes retention boring—in the best possible way. Handle it poorly and you invite the kind of quiet churn that never announces itself until it’s expensive.

This is a practical briefing—mechanics, messaging, and a short countdown plan—but it’s also an invitation to use a mandate to make your culture sharper, fairer, and easier to believe.

Links and Notes

• Pay Transparency from the AG website
• Previous podcast episode on Pay Transparency 101

• AIM HR Solutions Training Catalog
• AIM members can reach the HR Helpline at 800-470-6277 or [email protected] for inquiries Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. (EST). Email requests will be responded to within 24 hours.