Under New York City Local Law 32 of 2022, which is scheduled to go into effect on May 15, 2022, employers and employment agencies will be required to include a “good faith” salary range in every advertisement for jobs, promotions and transfer opportunities in New York City.
The NYC Commission on Human Rights recently released a factsheet on this new law that provides the following guidance:
- The new law applies to employers with four or more employees, if at least one of those employees works in New York City. Owners and individual employers count towards the four employees. The law applies to employment agencies of any size but does not apply to temporary help firms.
- The new law applies to any “written description of an available job, promotion, or transfer opportunity that is publicized to a pool of potential applicants,” whether publicized on internal bulletin boards, on the internet, in print flyers or in newspapers. Employers are not required to create such written descriptions, and may hire employees without advertisements.
- The new law applies to positions that “can or will be performed, in whole or in part, in New York City, whether from an office, in the field, or remotely from the employee’s home” and to advertisements seeking any type of workers, whether full- or part-time employees, interns, domestic workers, or independent contractors.
- “Good faith” means “the salary range the employer honestly believes at the time they are listing the job advertisement that they are willing to pay the successful applicant(s).”
- Employers must post a minimum and maximum salary range or a specific salary, but cannot use vague language such as “and up” or “at least” or “more than.”
- “Salary” can mean an annual salary or hourly rate, but refers only to the base pay and does not include additional compensation such as commissions, tips, bonuses or stock, and does not include benefits such as insurance, paid time off, pension plans, severance pay or overtime pay. Employers are permitted but not required to publicize this information.
- Employers and employment agencies who violate this new law may have to pay monetary damages to affected employees, pay civil penalties of up to $250,000, and take additional steps such as amending their advertisements and training their employees.
In late March, a bill was introduced that would amend the aforementioned NYC salary disclosure law to (i) exclude employers with fewer than fifteen employees; (ii) clarify that the law applies to both hourly rates and salaries; (iii) exclude general advertisements that do not specify a position; (iv) exclude notices of positions that need not be performed in New York City; and (v) move the effective date of the law to November 1, 2022.
Employers should prepare to abide by the NYC salary disclosure law as of May 15, 2022, and provide notice and training to any of their employees who prepare and publicize advertisements for jobs in New York City. We will track the bill proposing to amend the salary disclosure law and any further developments.
If you have questions or concerns about the NYC salary disclosure law or any wage and hour laws, please contact Chaim Book at cbook@mb-llp.com or Sheryl Galler at sgaller@mb-llp.com.
