May 2022: New York City Council Passes Amendment to Pay Transparency Law

Update Applicable to:
All employers with four or more employees in New York City.

What happened?
In our previous communication, we informed you about the proposed amendment to the New York City Pay Transparency Law that was passed on December 15, 2021. This is an update to that law.

What are the details?
After the New York City Committee on Civil and Human Rights (Committee) hearing on April 5, 2022, it became clear that the Committee would not adopt the initially proposed amendment of the NYC pay transparency law, which requires that NYC employers with four or more employees include the salary range of the position in job postings. However, the Committee proposed a second amendment that was passed by the NYC Council on April 28, 2022.

The new amendment postpones the effective date to November 1, 2022, and also clarifies for employers that both hourly wage and salaried jobs are subject to the statute.

The amendment also eliminates the broad private right of action available under the original law. Under the revised version, only current employees may bring an action against their employer for non-compliance. Based on the change, applicants likely cannot file a private right of action for violations. However, the New York City Commission on Human Rights (CCHR) will still have the authority to enforce violations applicable to applicants.

Further, under the amended law, first-time violators will not be subject to any monetary penalties, so long as they correct the violation within 30 days, presumably by updating the relevant job advertisement.

However, the amended version incorporates guidance from the CCHR regarding the applicability of the law to remote job positions. Specifically, the amended law provides that the salary disclosure requirement does not apply to positions that “cannot” or “will not” be performed, at least in part, in New York City. Stated differently, if any part of an advertised job can theoretically be performed in New York City, then the salary range for the position must be disclosed in the advertisement.

For more information, please see the links below:

NYC Pay Transparency

Original NYC Salary Transparency Factsheet

Vensure Legal Update (4/5/2022)

Article 1 – Article 2

What do employers need to do?
Employers should review the links provided above and should take advantage of the extended time to adjust their job advertisement policies.