New York City's Wage Transparency Law took effect on November 1, 2022. The law makes it an unlawful discriminatory practice for an employer with four or more workers (including independent contractors) to advertise a job, promotion, or transfer opportunity without including the minimum and maximum salary for such position in the advertisement. The salary range may extend from the lowest to highest salary the employer in good faith believes at the time of posting it would pay for the advertised job, promotion, or transfer.
Here are some practical pointers for employers to consider when complying with this new requirement:
- Salary includes base wage or rate of pay (whether hourly or as a salary) but does not require employers to post other forms of compensation such as bonuses, commissions, stock, 401(k) plans, health insurance, or paid time off.
- The salary range can be broad, taking into account the various levels of education, special training, and experience a candidate may bring to the job, so long as it reflects actual practice.
- An "advertisement" of a position is any written description of an available job, promotion, or transfer opportunity that is publicized to a pool of potential applicants, including internal as well as external postings. An employer that does not use these forms of "advertisements" for hiring need not create and post a wage range.
- Positions that may be filled by remote employees who occasionally come to New York City, or are filled remotely but could be filled by someone in New York City, are likely covered by the law. If an employer operating outside New York City specifically excludes residents of New York City from applying for an open position, it may not need to comply with the law.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
