If you’re looking for employment in New York City and are cruising through job sites like LinkedIn, Monster, Indeed, or ZipRecruiter, you may notice one detail on the various job postings that was often absent before: salary ranges. These additions are courtesy of New York’s new salary transparency rules which were passed as part of the New York City Human Rights Law in January 2022.
The new requirements, which went into effect on November 1st, mandate that “employers advertising jobs in New York City must include a good faith salary range for every job, promotion, and transfer opportunity advertised.” The new law pertains to companies that have at least four employees or at least one domestic worker, and applies to all positions, whether in-person, hybrid, or fully remote (as long as at least one of the company’s employees is based in New York).
The law also encompasses both publicly and internally posted job listings and is indiscriminate regarding the medium of the advertisement. A fact sheet issued by the NYC Commission on Human Rights notes that covered listings can include “postings on internal bulletin boards, internet advertisements, printed flyers distributed at job fairs, and newspaper advertisements.” The new provisions are also not limited to job postings for full-time employees—they also cover ads for part-time employees, interns, domestic workers, independent contractors, and any other type of worker protected by the NYC Human Rights Law.
The new salary range law was implemented with the intention of bringing greater transparency to the hiring process and facilitating more equitable compensation. It could also force employers to reevaluate and maintain competitive salary ranges in relation to those posted by other companies for similar job openings.
But just how successfully the law achieves these goals remains to be seen. As it stands, the provisions require employers to post a “good faith” estimate of the minimum and maximum salaries applicable to the position in the job posting. However, “good faith” is subjective and often context specific. A large salary range (e.g., $50,000-$200,000) could be a company’s attempt to skirt the spirit of the new provisions or it could be a legitimate estimate if the company heavily bases pay on a candidate’s level of experience and expertise. However, it’s worth noting that overly broad salary ranges will likely do little to garner trust and goodwill among prospective talent.
The provisions have also raised concerns about potential ways in which they could harm those in the job market. Non-New York-based companies could potentially refuse to consider candidates from New York in order to avoid the requirements. That being said, according to findings by Glassdoor, 60% of NYC job listings were in compliance with the new rules as of November 12th.
It’s also important to note that there is no law forcing employers to actually pay a salary within the range that was posted, assuming that the range was truly a good faith estimate at the time. For example, a new hire could accept a salary lower than what was posted but negotiate to receive a signing bonus or equity stake in the company instead. Conversely, a prospective hire may leverage their experience and skills to negotiate a higher salary than was originally posted.
Regarding salary negotiations, employers should also keep in mind the New York State law preventing employers from asking applicants about their current or past salaries (Labor Law Section 194-a). The law prohibits employers from using salary history as a factor when deciding to interview, hire, promote, or set a new salary for an applicant/current employee, unless the person offers their salary history information voluntarily and without prompting.
If you have any further questions regarding the new salary transparency provisions and compliance, please contact Phil Mortensen.
