NEW YORK – Starting in November, New York City companies will have to include a salary range in their job offers, in a new initiative by local authorities to improve transparency and combat compensation inequalities, which affect especially women and minorities.
Although there are several states in the United States that have rules of this type on salary transparency, New York will be the first of the large cities in the country to require this type of information from employers.
Rafael Pujols gives us a summary.
The New York mayor, Eric Adams, signed the new regulation on Thursday, which had already been promoted under the previous administration, but which the current council -which took office in January- had delayed in the midst of a major campaign against it by groups business.
Finally, by way of compromise, the legislation will not start to apply until next November, instead of coming into force this month as planned.
In addition, businesses will not be fined for their first violation and it is established that only those who are already employees of a company will be able to sue it in court for failing to comply with the rule.
Local legislators, despite this, highlighted the progress that the new law will bring to combat strong wage inequalities, which according to studies particularly harm women and members of minorities.
A growing number of companies in the United States are choosing to drop the bachelor’s degree requirement for many mid-skill and even high-skill roles, according to a recent study by Harvard Business Review and Emsi Burning Glass, a leader in labor market data.
The president of the municipal Human Rights Commission, Annabel Palma, highlighted in a statement that the measure is an “important step” to equalize the conditions for those “who have been harmed by salary disparities, often women and people of color “.
“The livelihood of New Yorkers is not a TV game where the true salary of a job offer is hidden behind a magic door only if you guess which one is correct,” said Democratic Councilmember Justin Brannan, who stressed that whoever If you opt for a job, you must know in advance if it will be able to pay the rent or support your family.
Brannan also explained that this new rule will make it much easier to “identify systemic inequalities” in wages linked to race and gender.
According to 2021 data published by the US federal government, the gender wage gap remains very significant, with women earning an average of 83.1% of what men earn.
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