On December 15, 2021, the New York City Council passed a bill that would require employers with four or more employees to disclose the starting salary range on all postings and advertisements for positions located in New York City. That bill became law, and it is anticipated to take effect on or around May 15, 2022.
This NYC local law makes it unlawful to advertise a job, transfer, or promotion opportunity without listing the lowest and highest salary offered for the role. The salary range must be based on what the employers believe in good faith would pay at the time the opportunity is posted. In enacting the law, New York has followed suit in an emerging trend in state transparency laws. States such as Nevada, California, Maryland, Connecticut, and Colorado have also adopted wage transparency laws.
The NYC law may impact employers seeking to sponsor foreign national employees through the PERM Labor Certification process. Under the PERM federal regulations, employers must advertise a job opportunity through various sources that include, but are not limited to, newspapers, employer websites, and job posting websites. Federal PERM regulations do not require salary disclosure in any job posting utilizing such sources. Instead, the federal regulations only require salary disclosure in the employer’s notice of filing efforts, which entails posting a physical notice at a proposed worksite and, in certain scenarios, duplicating the notice in the company’s internal media such as an employee intranet portal.
Last year, a similar wage disclosure law was enacted in Colorado. There, the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment later acknowledged that the wage disclosure requirement would not be enforced for PERM advertisements because this law conflicted with federal labor certification regulations. It is not yet clear whether the New York City Council will adopt a similar exception for PERM-related advertisements involving job opportunities in NYC.
Agency guidance is needed and expected to clarify the obligations of covered employers, Barst attorneys will continue to monitor further developments with this NYC law and its impact on employers navigating the PERM Labor Certification process.
If you have questions regarding this law or otherwise have general inquiries, schedule a consultation by visiting https://barstmukamal.wpengine.com/contact-us/.