A bill has passed both the New York State Assembly and Senate which would require employers to disclose salary ranges in job postings. If signed into law by Governor Kathy Hochul, New York would become the latest state to pass wage transparency laws, following similar moves in Colorado, Nevada, Connecticut, California, Washington, and Maryland.

The news comes one month after New York City confirmed that its own salary disclosure laws would come into effect from November 1st of this year, following a six-month delay. The NYC law will require businesses with four or more employees in the city, including architecture firms, to include salary ranges in job adverts or risk a financial penalty.

The New York State bill, named S9427, pertains to adverts for new job positions, promotions, or transfer opportunities that will be fully or partly performed in the state of New York. Under the bill, employers must include a “range of compensation” in the job description when advertising for the role, defined as a minimum and maximum annual salary range or hourly range that the employer believes in good faith to be accurate.

Like its NYC counterpart, the state law will apply to employers of four or more people in any occupation as well as any company acting as a recruiter for a company. Employers will also be required to maintain a historical record of compensation ranges advertised for jobs, promotions, and transfers.

Maintenance of the law will be overseen by the New York State Department of Labor Commissioner, with employers who violate the law subject to financial penalties under New York Labor Law.

At present, there are over 500 open job adverts for positions across New York on Archinect Jobs.

Like similar wage transparency laws across the United States, the New York State bill is designed to address wage inequality in the state. Advocates for the bill reference a recent Glassdoor survey which found that 41% of employed women say the gender pay gap is a serious problem in their company and that 63% of employees prefer to work at a company that discloses pay information over one that does not.

“Coming from the labor movement, I know that the best defense against race and gender-based wage inequality is a collective bargaining agreement,” said Senator Jessica Ramos, chair of the NY State Senate Labor Committee and sponsor of the bill. “Until that time when every worker has a union fighting for their wages, however, this bill will empower workers with the information they need to get equal pay for equal work.”

The bill is now on the desk of Governor Hochul, who will either veto the bill or sign it into the law. The law will become effective 270 days after being signed.

You can help us in our continued effort to provide salary insights into architectural practice across the United States by anonymously responding to Archinect's ongoing Architecture Salary Poll here.