Yes, you got lucky... which isnt to say that what you did doesn't occur. It's definitely more the exception than the rule. If they call your bluff then you got to call their bluff and actually take that other job, which is generally a pain in the ass... Pay transparency is good for the company, good for equity, but bad for top performers since everyone has to be treated the same and your job has a much stronger negotiating position (genereally) since they can no longer approve raises for just one person.

Not saying that can't happen... you got lucky. Your employer is now open to a lawsuit unless they give everyone else with your same job title the same raise. Of course the employer is using tools already... but this kind of law makes the data feeding into those tools even better.

Overall, wages go down 2% when these kinds of laws are passed so your experience is the exception not the rule.

Be careful what you wish for.

What happens when this is inacted is that each individual employee loses a ton of bargaining power. Wages flatten across the board and actually go down. Remember, your employer can see what everyone is paying so they don't have to compete as hard to get a good employee. And asking for that raise means you aren't asking for just you to get a raise... you are asking for every single person at your salary level to get a raise. Think that's going to happen? No more exceptions for top performers. Salary bands all the way. Good for equity, though, if that's your goal.

It's not as good as it sounds. Take it from a Coloradan.

plus and minus of pay transparency