New York City Equal Pay Laws To Be Amended
In January 2022, New York City adopted an amendment to city law that requires future job postings by employers based in the city to include the minimum and maximum salary for the job in question. This will be required both for new hires, and for promotions or potential transfers. This bill establishes that it is an ‘unlawful discriminatory practice’ for an employer to post an opening without this salary information. It is scheduled to take effect in November 2022.
Why Share Salary Information?
Wage discrimination is when an employer intentionally pays one worker less than another on the basis of a protected characteristic, even if the two perform the same job at the same degree of competency. While both New York City and State have equal pay protection laws, incidents of discriminatory behavior still surface, particularly in industries where there is a culture of employees being scared to share their salary information. Without information to compare, many employees tacitly accept low pay because they do not know they are entitled to better.
New York City’s law bans salary history inquiries by employers, and, at least in theory, prohibits pay inequity based on protected characteristics (such as race, religion, national origin, disability, or sex/gender). However, the new amendment to the law tries to protect workers further, by placing salary information squarely on the proverbial table – eliminating the need for awkward conversations between colleagues and potential reprisals from employers.
Changes Made
Originally, the amendment was slated to take effect on May 15, 2022, but review by the City Council pushed the date to November and clarified other points. Most notably, it has been softened – employers now have up to 30 days to cure any violation of the law (in other words, to correct their job postings), and the first violation will not result in any fines. Repeat violations will, of course, but these changes give employers more time to ensure that all of their postings are in order.
One major change that is relevant to workers is that the updated version of the law will only give current employees of a company the right to bring an action if they believe a violation of the law has occurred. At least as of this writing, this seems to leave applicants for listings that do not comply with the law out in the cold, so to speak; they appear to have no recourse to address the legal violation.
Contact A New York City Employment Lawyer
While further revisions to the salary provisions may result, this does not help those who suspect they have been the victims of wage discrimination now. If this is you, contacting a New York City employment discrimination lawyer from Mansell Law, LLC can help to clarify matters. You deserve to be paid in accordance with the law – an experienced attorney can help ensure your rights are protected. Contact our office via our web form, or on the phone at (646) 921-8900, for a free consultation.
Source:
legistar.council.nyc.gov/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=3713951&GUID=E7B03ABA-8F42-4341-A0D2-50E2F95320CD&Options=&Search=
