After the April 5 New York City Committee on Civil and Human Rights (Committee) hearing, it became clear that the Committee would not adopt the initially proposed amendment of the NYC pay transparency law, which, as we’ve discussed, requires that NYC employers with four or more employees include the salary range of the position in job postings. However, keeping us on our toes, the Committee proposed a second amendment that was passed by the NYC Council on April 28, 2022 (Amendment).
The Amendment adopts some aspects of the first failed amendment. Importantly, the law will now take effect on November 1, 2022, providing employers more time to prepare and comply with the law. The Amendment also clarifies that the salary posting should refer to the minimum and maximum annual salary or hourly wage.
Further, the Amendment clarifies that the law will not apply to positions that cannot or will not be performed, at least in part, in NYC. In other words, fully remote positions will not be covered by the law.
Finally, in an attempt to address the concern that compliance with this law would be particularly burdensome on small businesses, the Amendment softens potential remedies and decreases initial penalties. First, the Amendment provides that only employees – not job applicants – can bring an action against their current employer for an alleged violation of the law. Second, upon first violation of the law, an employer will not be subject to a civil penalty and will have 30 days to cure the violation.
Accordingly, employers with four or more employees (or one or more domestic workers) will need to comply with this law starting on November 1, 2022. We expect the New York Commission on Human Rights will issue updated guidance in the coming months.
Authored by Michael DeLarco, Zach Siegel, and Shannon Finnegan.
