Jeffrey (Jeff) H. Ruzal, Member of the Firm in the Employment, Labor & Workforce Management practice, in the firm’s New York office, was quoted in Law360 Employment Authority, in “3 Tips for Complying with NY's Salary Disclosure Law,” by Jon Steingart. (Read the full version – subscription required.)
Following is an excerpt:
Employers throughout New York state have to disclose estimated salary ranges in job postings beginning this week under a law that took effect Monday, and experts told Law360 they recommend recalibrating practices to get a handle on the new requirement.
Pay transparency laws are intended to reduce inequities by equipping job seekers with better information going into salary negotiations. Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul cited the law's potential to improve fairness and transparency for workers, especially women and people of color, when she signed the measure in December.
The law requires a job posting to include numbers that reflect the lower and upper edges of the range that the employer might pay for the position. That means a statement that a job pays "$20 and up" would not comply, according to proposed regulations the state Department of Labor issued Sept. 13. The law covers employers with four or more employees when they post a position that will be performed fully or partially within the state, or a position based in any location that reports to a supervisor or office in New York. It applies to ads for new roles or for potential promotions or transfers. …
Take the Opportunity to Audit Pay Practices
Jeff Ruzal, who counsels employers as a member of Epstein Becker Green, told Law360 developing good faith ranges is a great opportunity to audit pay practices, which employers should do periodically regardless of a transparency requirement.
"It's useful for businesses to consider conducting a pay equity audit, which is closely tethered to the publication of salary ranges," he said. "Pay transparency requires diligence with exactly that: transparency."
The law's goal is transparency with job candidates, but employers should see it as a chance to be transparent with themselves, he said. That means examining their policies and practices and making changes when they find something amiss, he said.
Pay equity audits help organizations review whether their practices are consistent across their workforce. In larger workplaces that have lots of teams and lots of managers involved in hiring, it's not unusual for schisms to emerge, he said.
Self-correcting is a lot simpler than making changes in response to litigation or a government probe, Ruzal said.
"I think it helps create some clarity in the employer's workplace, what the requirements of a job are and how individuals are being paid for those jobs," he said. "By prompting employers to take a fresh look, it may cause the businesses to be a little more thoughtful about the choices they're making in terms of their workforce and the success of the business and how it's structured."
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