NYC Employers Can No Longer Hide Salary Ranges In Job Listings

Starting Tuesday, New York City employers must disclose salary information in job ads, thanks to a new pay transparency law that will reverberate nationwide. Axios reports: What’s happening: Employers have spent months getting ready for this. They’ll now have to post salary ranges for open roles — but many didn’t have any established pay bands at all, says Allan Bloom, a partner at Proskauer who’s advising companies. Already, firms like American Express, JPMorgan Chase and Macy’s have added pay bands to their help-wanted ads, reports the Wall Street Journal.

How it works: Companies with more than four employees must post a salary range for any open role that’s performed in the city — or could be performed in the city. Violators could ultimately be fined up to $250,000 — though a first offense just gets a warning.

Reality check: It’s a pretty squishy requirement. The law requires only that salary ranges be in “good faith” — and there’s no penalty for paying someone outside of the range posted. It will be difficult for enforcement officials to prove a salary range is in bad faith, Bloom says. “The low-hanging fruit will be [going after] employers that don’t post any range whatsoever.” Many of the ranges posted online now are pretty wide. A senior analyst role advertised on the Macy’s jobs site is listed as paying between $85,320 and $142,080 a year. A senior podcast producer role at the WSJ advertises an “NYC pay range” of $50,000 – $180,000. The wide ranges could be particularly reasonable if these roles can be performed remotely, as some companies adjust pay according to location.