Client Alert

New York State Pay Transparency Law Amendments Signed into Law

As we previously reported, effective September 17, 2023, employers will be subject to the New York State Pay Transparency law, pursuant to which employers who advertise a job, promotion, or transfer opportunity must include: (1) the compensation or a range of compensation for such job, promotion, or transfer opportunity; and (2) the job description for such job, promotion, or transfer opportunity, if such description exists. In addition to the disclosure requirements, the law contains an explicit non-retaliation provision.

Recently, the New York State Legislature proposed amendments to the original version of the law and on March 3, 2023, those amendments were signed into law by Governor Hochul. Notable changes from the original version of the law include:

• The law applies to remote positions physically performed outside of New York that report to a New York supervisor, office, or work site. The standard is no longer whether work “can or will be performed” in New York State. Instead, the law will now apply to advertisements for “a job, promotion, or transfer opportunity that will physically be performed, at least in part, in the state of New York, including a job, promotion, or transfer opportunity that will physically be performed outside of New York but reports to a supervisor, office, or other work site in New York.”
• The law eliminates the recordkeeping requirement.
• The law expands upon the meaning of the term “advertise” by defining it as “to make available to a pool of potential applicants for internal or public viewing, including electronically, a written description of an employment opportunity.”

As a reminder, pursuant to the New York Pay Transparency Law, covered employers must include in any advertisement for a job, promotion, or transfer opportunity the minimum and maximum annual salary or hourly range of compensation that the employer in good faith believes to be accurate at the time of the posting. The law requires employers to also disclose the applicable job description if one exists. The law defines range of compensation as the “minimum and maximum annual salary or hourly range of compensation for a job, promotion, or transfer opportunity that the employer in good faith believes to be accurate at the time of the posting of an advertisement for such opportunity.”

New York employers should begin preparing for the September 2023 effective date by ensuring that their human resources and compensation departments, as well as third-party employment agencies, are informed of the new requirements. Employers should also take steps to determine and document compensation ranges using existing data or projecting figures on a good-faith basis. Furthermore, employers should anticipate requests for salary reviews by current employees and consider how to respond to those through existing or new internal practices. Should you have any questions regarding the new law and amendments, please contact Ali Law Group.

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