NYC Salary Transparency Law in Question as Businesses Push Back - Bloomberg
The New York City Council may make significant changes to its landmark salary transparency law before it even takes effect — including delaying enforcement by six months to November.
New York City had set May 15 as the deadline for every job posting to list the minimum and maximum salary for each position. The rule applies to jobs that are remote or in-person, salaried or hourly, that will be performed in the city by an employee working for a company with four or more employees.
The Council Committee on Civil and Human Rights on Tuesday plans to discuss an amendment that would exempt companies with fewer than 15 employees, exclude certain positions and move the effective date to Nov. 1, according to a notice of the meeting. The changes would also allow businesses to post general “help wanted” listings, without a specific role, and not include salary information.
Business Pushback
New York’s five borough chambers of commerce and the Partnership for New York City, a business group composed of the city’s largest companies, including JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Goldman Sachs Group Inc., pushed back against the law and said many of the 200,000 businesses and 30,000 nonprofit organizations have little knowledge of the legislation ahead of the May 15 deadline.
They said the salary disclosure law was passed “without any meaningful public input or consultation with employers,” according to an April 4 letter to the City Council. “It also comes in the middle of a local labor shortage, particularly in those sectors most impacted by the pandemic: health care, retail, and food services.”
In the letter, the group outlined that compensation offered during the tight labor marker may be higher than what other employees are making. In the corporate sector, they said employers seeking to diversify their executive teams may offer higher compensation for people of color. To that end, they are seeking exemptions for employers in industries with severe labor shortages and clarification that the law applies only to jobs that are located at least partly in New York City.
“During a labor shortage, or in the context of achieving diversity goals, the posted maximum may be significantly higher than the historical salary ranges, creating dissatisfaction in the workforce and demands to adjust existing pay scales that the employer may be unable to afford,” the group said.
Creating Loopholes
PowHer New York, a nonprofit that pushed for the original law, is opposing the amendment as “dangerous,” creating loopholes that would allow many employers to avoid compliance. In a press conference before the hearing on Tuesday, supporters of the law, including Gloria Middleton, president of CWA 1180 labor union that represents 9,000 active workers and 6,000 retirees in the city, urged the City Council to reject the changes and let the law take effect as scheduled.
The ultimate goal of pay transparency laws is to help reduce a stubborn pay gap between men and women — particularly women of color. States and cities are also increasingly prohibiting companies from asking candidates what they earned in previous jobs.
At least seven states now require companies to produce salary information with job postings, or upon the request of job seekers. Colorado, Nevada, Connecticut, California, Washington, and Maryland have laws with some form of salary-range disclosure required. Rhode Island will join them in January 2023. Similar laws are under consideration in Massachusetts and South Carolina. New York is the first major metropolitan city in the U.S. to enact such legislation.
source: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-04-05/nyc-salary-transparency-law-in-question-as-businesses-push-back
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