The New York state pay transparency law that took effect Sunday adds a new twist: Not only does it require a salary range alongside all postings for jobs in the state, but also those that report to a boss based there.
The law, signed by Governor Kathy Hochul last December, was modified to leave out requirements for every remote job out of state, but added that pay information be included if the job “will physically be performed outside of New York but reports to a supervisor, office or other work site in New York.” The legislation applies to New York City, which enacted its own pay transparency law last year. That law had no provision for pay transparency for remote workers based on their reporting line.
“I see this having a bigger impact for companies that are headquartered in New York, or with significant management functions in New York,” said Cindy Schmitt Minniti, managing partner of the New York office of law firm Reed Smith, about the new state law. “This may have bigger consequences than just in the state of New York. It likely will.”
The New York state law is the latest in a wave of legislation that started in Colorado in 2021 and is now in place in states including Washington, California and Hawaii. Illinois will join them in 2025. The laws aim to make sure people know how much they should be paid for their current job or an open position, especially women and people of color who lag behind White men in pay. In August, half of US job postings on the Indeed Inc. job posting site advertised at least some employer-provided salary information, the highest share yet recorded.
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Now that the New York state law is in place, all employers, including those in the city, will have to be more deliberate about the reporting structure for jobs, said Maria Papasevastos, a New York-based labor and employment lawyer with Seyfarth Shaw LLP. “For companies that have a remote work force, these laws have become challenging for compliance.”
The rules will be enforced by the New York State Department of Labor. The agency laid out a series of proposed regulations Sept. 13 and will accept public comments for 60 days.
Those guidelines didn’t define what counts as a job reporting to a New York supervisor, so a literal interpretation could include anyone up to the chief executive officer, Minniti said. Until it’s clearer, it may be safer for companies based in New York to just post pay for all jobs regardless of their location, she said. “You want to make sure you’re compliant to the literal reading of the law.”
