NYC to Require Salary Range in Job Postings

​Starting May 15, 2022, employers advertising jobs in New York City will be required to include the salary range for the position in their postings.

The New York City Council passed the legislation Dec. 15, 2021, and it awaits the signature of Mayor Eric Adams.

Currently, New York City employers can withhold pay information until the end of the hiring process.

"Lack of salary transparency is discriminatory and anti-worker," said former Manhattan Councilwoman Helen Rosenthal, a co-sponsor of the bill, whose term concluded at the start of this year. "It is long overdue that New York City address the cause of significant inequity in the local hiring process—employers' refusal to disclose a position's salary. Forcing employers to disclose salary ranges for available positions will also help us to more readily identify systemic pay inequities."

The bill will amend the New York City Human Rights Law to require that employers disclose minimum and maximum salaries for all advertised jobs, promotions or transfer opportunities located in New York City, explained Lisa Dayan, of counsel in the New York City office of Davis Wright Tremaine.

"As the term 'salary' is not defined, employers should comply with the new law regardless of whether a position is a salaried, exempt or hourly nonexempt position," she said. "Failure to include a salary range would be considered a discriminatory practice."

Kelly Cardin, an attorney in the Stamford, Conn., and New York City offices of Ogletree Deakins, said that the law would apply to employers with four or more employees, including independent contractors, but does not apply to job postings by staffing firms for temporary positions.

"Existing provisions … authorize the New York City Commission on Human Rights to impose civil penalties of up to $125,000 for unlawful discriminatory practices or acts," Cardin noted.

Other states and cities have enacted a variety of salary transparency laws, either requiring employers to provide pay information upon an applicant's request or at a specific time during the recruitment process, Dayan said.

"The New York City law is part of a growing trend of wage transparency laws that have been enacted in other jurisdictions in an effort to promote wage equity for groups who have historically received lower compensation," she added. "So far, only Colorado's law requires employers to include salary ranges in job postings."

Dayan advised employers in New York City to "prepare for the new wage transparency law by reviewing the salary ranges of existing positions and determining whether to make any changes to those ranges to attract new candidates or retain current employees."