COMPLYING WITH NYC'S PAY TRANSPARENCY LAW

On March 22, 2022, the New York City Commission on Human Rights released its long anticipated guidance related to a January 2022 NYC law calling for pay transparency in job listings that is set to take effect on May 15, 2022. 

Check to see if the pay transparency law applies to your job listings.

If you have four or more employees and at least one employee works in New York City, the pay transparency law applies to any job listing you publicize to a pool of potential applicants for a job, promotion, or transfer opportunity that could be performed (in whole or in part) in NYC…  whether from an office, in the field, or remotely from the employee's home. 

Confirm that your job listing complies with the requirements of the pay transparency law.

If your job listing is covered by the pay transparency law, confirm that the job listing complies with the following requirements: 

– The job listing must provide the minimum and maximum wage rates that your business believes it is willing to pay for the position at the time of posting. “Good faith” is based on your business's “honest belief." You must have a legitimate basis for the wage range; the wider the range, the more scrutiny you should expect.

– Because the wage range must include a minimum and maximum, the following examples do not suffice… $15 per hour and up” and “maximum $50,000 per year.” 

– If you believe in good faith that there is no flexibility in the wage being offered, the minimum and maximum wage may be identical. 

– The wage range does not need to include anything but wages. 

Consider additional best practices.

Employers should consider incorporating the following additional best practices: 

– Immediately audit all job postings that are publicly available

– Train your recruiting and management teams on these new requirements 

– Document how your business determined each posted wage range to demonstrate that it was reached in "good faith" 

– Determine whether job postings must also comply with requirements in other jurisdictions 

Need more clarity or information? Contact Kevin on:  kevin@kmckernan.com or 718-317-5007