The Wage Transparency Act, which requires salary ranges in job advertisements, comes into force
ALBANY, NY (NEWS10) – New York employers with four or more employees are now required to include a salary range in job postings, promotions and transfers.
“It can be either an annual salary or an hourly wage,” explained New York State Labor Commissioner Roberta Reardon. “Tips may not be included in the monetary amount. You can say: $18 plus tip. You can say $18 plus tips, which averages out to a certain amount, but you can’t say $25 an hour, which means you added expected tips to the hourly wage.”
Employers must also indicate whether the position is commission-based.
“It’s a great way to create equal opportunities, not just for women, people from underserved communities and people who are new to a job,” Reardon said. “You get a lot of information and give employees a certain amount of weight, which is important.”
However, the Business Council of New York State has some concerns.
“We don’t know if it addresses the problems that advocates hope it will address, and that continues to affect issues of pay equity and age, race and gender pay disparities in the workplace,” said Frank Kerbein, director of the Center for Human Resources at the Business Council of New York State.
Kerbein fears this will increase the cost of doing business in New York.
“This imposes additional administrative burdens on employers in New York State,” Kerbein said. “Any person who claims to have been violated when they have not followed the law as written may take legal action. I think that creates some liability for small employers who may not be aware of the law or the intricacies of the law.”
Companies can be fined $3,000 if they fail to fulfill their obligations as an employer.
Reardon said the state will conduct a media campaign to get information out to businesses.
