New York City employers will soon have stricter pay transparency obligations. Effective May 15, 2022, employers with four or more employees (including independent contractors) will be required to include salary ranges when advertising a job, promotion, or transfer opportunity. The goal of this law is to further combat pay inequities which may exist particularly for women and minorities.
All advertised postings will need to include a minimum and maximum salary. In determining the range, an employer may include the lowest and highest salary that it believes in good faith, at the time of posting, it will pay for the advertised position.
There are still some questions that remain, however. It is unclear how this law would affect remote workers if a job is advertised as remote, which may or may not be in New York City. The law also does not define “advertise”, nor does it define “salary” and whether that includes other amounts such as commissions or bonuses.
Further guidance is expected which will hopefully clarify some of these lingering questions.
Failure to comply with the new law will constitute an unlawful discriminatory practice under the New York City Human Rights Law, with civil penalties up to $125,000, and up to $250,000 for willful or malicious violations.
This new law brings added considerations for employers whose incumbent workers may now become aware of information that will soon be public. Business owners and human resource professionals should be prepared to address questions that may come from employees about disparities in pay.
Employers should take steps now to ensure they are prepared for the onset of this new requirement by reviewing existing hiring practices and templates used for posting of open positions. It is also important that employers review their current salaries and ranges to identify any discrepancies before the law takes effect, and assess the criteria used to determine salary ranges.