The 2026 Job Posting Compliance Checklist: Pay Transparency, AI Disclosure, EEO, and Platform Rules

A compliant job posting in 2026 has to satisfy four sets of rules at once: pay transparency laws that now cover 13 US states plus the District of Columbia and several cities, AI-in-hiring disclosure laws in New York City, Illinois, California, and (from 2027) Colorado, federal equal-employment and contractor rules, and the content policies of the platforms that distribute the job, chiefly Google and Indeed. 

Because a programmatic job advertising platform pushes one requisition to dozens of publishers and locations, a single non-compliant field, such as a missing pay range or a title that discourages older applicants, is multiplied across every placement. This checklist is organized so it can be applied to a job feed, not just a single posting. It is a practical summary, not legal advice; effective dates and thresholds change, and counsel should confirm the rules for your jurisdictions.

Quick Checklist

Which US Jurisdictions Require a Pay Range in the Posting?

As of late September 2026, the following require a pay or wage range in job postings. Employer-size thresholds are shown where the law sets one.

Already scheduled: Columbus, Ohio (January 1, 2027, 15 or more) and Delaware (September 26, 2027, 26 or more). Cincinnati, Toledo, Nevada, and Rhode Island require a range on request or after an offer, not in the posting.

Details that matter for feeds:

• Ranges must be good-faith. California’s SB 642, signed in October 2025, tightens the definition to the pay the employer reasonably expects to pay at hire. Minnesota prohibits open-ended ranges.
• Some states allow a link. Illinois accepts a hyperlink to a public page with the range; most others require the range in the posting itself, which means the range must travel in the feed to every publisher.
• Cure periods exist in some states (Washington through July 2027, Massachusetts through October 2027, Virginia 15 business days), but only if the employer acts within the window after notice.

What Does the EU Pay Transparency Directive Require?

Directive (EU) 2023/970 entered into force on June 6, 2023, with a transposition deadline of June 7, 2026. Under Article 5, applicants have the right to information about the initial pay or pay range for a position before the interview, which may be provided in the vacancy notice, and employers may not ask candidates about their pay history. National implementing laws are staggered and several member states missed the deadline, so employers advertising across the EU should check each country’s status rather than assume one rule.

Which AI-in-Hiring Laws Affect Job Postings and Apply Flows?

Job postings rarely mention AI, but the application flow behind them often uses it, and several laws require notice at or near the point of application.

• New York City Local Law 144. Employers using an automated employment decision tool must have an independent bias audit within the past year, publish a summary, and give candidates notice at least 10 business days before use. Enforced by the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection since July 5, 2023.
• Illinois HB 3773 (Public Act 103-0804). Effective January 1, 2026, amends the Illinois Human Rights Act to require notice when AI is used in recruitment, hiring, and other employment decisions, and prohibits using zip codes as a proxy for protected classes. The Illinois Department of Human Rights proposed notice rules in May 2026 and withdrew them in June 2026, so no implementing rules were in force at the time of writing.
• California FEHA automated-decision regulations. Effective October 1, 2025, the Civil Rights Department’s regulations apply anti-discrimination rules to automated decision systems for employers with five or more employees and require four-year record retention.
• Colorado SB 26-189. Signed May 14, 2026, it repeals and reenacts the 2024 Colorado AI Act as an automated decision-making technology notice and disclosure regime effective January 1, 2027, with Attorney General rulemaking due before then.

For the broader regulatory picture, including the EU AI Act and EEOC guidance, see Joveo’s guide to responsible AI in hiring.

What EEO and Federal Contractor Rules Apply to Job Ads?

The EEOC states that it is illegal for an employer to publish a job advertisement that shows a preference for, or discourages someone from applying because of, a protected characteristic, and gives “recent college graduates” as an example of language that may discourage older applicants under the ADEA. Phrases such as “young and energetic” or “digital native” carry the same risk.

Federal contractors have seen the largest change in years. Executive Order 11246 was revoked by Executive Order 14173 on January 21, 2025, and OFCCP published final rules in August 2026 rescinding the EO 11246 regulations effective October 26, 2026. Two statutes remain in force with rules effective September 21, 2026: Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act (which drops the 7 percent utilization goal and the CC-305 form but keeps affirmative action program and outreach obligations, now at a $20,000 contract threshold) and VEVRAA (which keeps the hiring benchmark and the mandatory job listing requirement, now at a $200,000 threshold). Under 41 CFR 60-300.5(a), covered contractors must list all openings with the state employment service delivery system, with exceptions for executive and top management roles, positions filled internally, and jobs lasting three days or less.

What Do Google and Indeed Require?

Platform policies are enforced faster than statutes, usually by removing the posting.

Google’s JobPosting content policies: the posting must be viewable without a login, must be a real and accurately described job, must not use keyword-stuffed or misleading titles, must state an accurate location, must offer a way to apply, and must be expired (validThrough in the past, a 404 or 410, or removal of the markup) once closed. Violations can result in a manual action that removes the employer’s jobs from the job search experience on Google.

Indeed’s job posting standards: each real job should appear only once; postings must include the company, pay, hours, and duties; titles must be real titles without keyword stuffing; applicants may not be charged fees; and repeat integrity issues can cost an employer free or organic visibility. Indeed’s Single-Source Feed Policy, effective March 31, 2026, also requires employers whose ATS is integrated with Indeed to post through that integration rather than a standalone feed.

LinkedIn’s Jobs Policies similarly require one job per posting, no applicant fees, and no discriminatory content.

What About Accessibility?

Title I of the ADA covers the hiring process, and while no federal regulation adopts WCAG for private employers, WCAG 2.1 AA has become the working standard in litigation and settlements and is the safest target for career sites and apply flows. For state and local governments, the Department of Justice’s Title II web rule (April 2024) makes WCAG 2.1 AA mandatory; an April 2026 interim final rule moved the compliance deadlines to April 26, 2027 for jurisdictions over 50,000 people and April 26, 2028 for smaller ones.

What About Salary History?

Asking for prior pay is now banned in 22 states and 24 localities, according to HR Dive’s tracker (updated April 2026), with Virginia the newest statewide ban as of July 1, 2026. Application forms, screening questions, and chatbot scripts should be checked alongside the posting.

How to Apply This Checklist to a Job Feed

1. Make pay range a required feed field, not an optional one, and validate it before distribution.
2. Map each job’s location to the jurisdictions above and block distribution when a required field is missing.
3. Run title and description text through an EEO language check.
4. Add AI-use notice text to the apply flow for jobs located in NYC, Illinois, California, and (from 2027) Colorado.
5. Expire closed jobs in the feed the same day they close, so Google and Indeed see the change.
6. Keep one canonical URL per job to avoid duplicate-posting penalties.

Joveo’s guide to programmatic job advertising covers how feed rules and distribution work together, and the job advertising feed explainer covers the fields themselves.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does a pay range have to appear on job boards, or only on my career site? 

In most states the requirement applies to the posting wherever it appears, including third-party postings. Illinois allows a hyperlink to a public page with the range.

Do AI disclosure laws apply if I only use AI to write the job description? 

The laws above target automated tools used in screening, ranking, or selection decisions, not drafting tools. Check the definitions in each statute.

Are federal contractors still required to list jobs with the state workforce agency? 

Yes. The VEVRAA mandatory job listing requirement remains under the 2026 rules.

Can a non-compliant posting be removed by a job board? 

Yes. Google and Indeed both remove postings that violate their content policies, independent of any legal enforcement.