Employers with Cleveland-based staff should take note: the City of Cleveland (City) is joining Columbus, Cincinnati, and a growing roster of jurisdictions in imposing pay-transparency requirements. On April 28, 2025, the Cleveland City Council adopted Ordinance No. 104-2025, which adds Chapter 669, “Unlawful Discriminatory Salary Practices,” to the Cleveland Codified Ordinances. Mayor Justin Bibb signed the measure as an emergency ordinance, with hopes it will assist in closing the gender pay gap, and it will take effect in 180 days (October 25, 2025).
Key Requirements Under Ordinance No. 104-2025
The new ordinance applies to any private employer—whether organized for profit or not—who employs fifteen (15) or more people in the City. While the ordinance excludes any unit of local, state, or federal government, the City of Cleveland itself is not excluded. Those meeting the broad definition of employer must:
- Post a pay range. Every notification,advertisement, or formal posting that offers an opportunity to apply for employment in the City must display a salary range or scale.
- Refrain entirely from asking about prior pay. Employers can no longer inquire about the salary history of any applicant for employment.Employers are likewise barred from refusing to hire, disfavoring, or retaliating against an applicant for refusals to disclose their prior financial compensation.
- Avoid salary-based decisions. Employers cannot screen applicants based on their current or prior salary history, and they cannot rely solely on an applicant’s prior compensation when making hiring or pay determinations.
- Recognize the carve-outs. The ordinance’s requirements and prohibitions do not apply to:
- actions another federal, state, or local law expressly authorizes to rely on salary history;
- applicants seeking an internal transfer or promotion with their current employer;
- voluntary, unprompted disclosures of salary history by an applicant;
- incidental disclosure of salary history uncovered during verification or background checks (however employers may not rely solely on that information to set pay);
- rehires when the employer already possesses the applicant’s prior salary data;
- positions whose compensation is set through collective-bargaining procedures; and,
- federal, state, or local governmental employers—other than the City of Cleveland.
Questions about salary history do not cover objective productivity metrics—revenue, sales, or similar production data. Employers may still discuss an applicant’s compensation expectations, including unvested equity or deferred pay the applicant would forfeit, but they must not request, screen on, or rely solely upon the applicant’s salary history when hiring or setting pay.
Compliance Oversight & Penalties
For any alleged violation of the above requirements, applicants or employees will be able to file complaints with the City’s newly revived Fair Employment Wage Board (FEWB or Board) within 180 days of the alleged violation. FEWB first attempts conciliation. If an employer does not cure a violation within ninety days, FEWB may impose civil penalties of up to $1,000 for a first offense, $2,500 for a second offense, and $5,000 for each additional offense within a five-year window.The Board adjusts these amounts each year to match the inflation reflected in the consumer price index for all Urban Consumers (CPI-U), which is published by the Department of Labor. Employers may appeal adverse rulings to the City’s Director of Finance and then to the Board of Zoning Appeals.
Next Steps for Cleveland Employers
Cleveland’s Ordinance arrives amid a national surge in pay-transparency laws—already on the books in California, Colorado, Illinois, New York, Washington, Columbus, Cincinnati, Toledo, and other jurisdictions. Council sponsors cited data from Columbus and Cincinnati showing post-enactment wage gains for women and emphasized the ordinance’s role in closing persistent pay gaps. With momentum clearly on the side of transparency, Cleveland employers cannot assume this is a passing trend.
The six-month countdown to October 25, 2025, has started. Cleveland employers must audit every posting for a compliant salary range, strip salary-history inquiries from hiring materials, and train recruiters before applicants—and the City’s revived Fair Employment Wage Board—start watching. Noncompliance risks immediate complaints, escalating fines, and reputational damage. Navigating this patchwork of local and multistate rules can feel daunting, but the Employment & Labor team at Zashin & Rich has guided organizations of every size through similar transitions and stands ready to help you get compliant—and stay ahead of the next wave.
*Dylan C. Brown & Rose A. Hayden represent public and private employers in all facets of labor and employment law. For more information or assistance with Cleveland’s pay-transparency ordinance or other employment-law issues matters, contact Dylan (dcb@zrlaw.com) or Rose (rah@zrlaw.com) via email or by phone at 216.696.4441.