The city had previously voted to delay the law from taking effect in May amidst resistance from the business community, which in the end only gained an amendment laden with small concessions. Now first-time offenders will no longer be penalized, though fines for any proceeding  non-compliance can be enforced up to $250,000 if the posting is not corrected within 30 days. Industries like construction that are facing labor shortages will not be exempted in spite of the lobbying campaign.

A separate statewide transparency bill is still awaiting Kathy Hochul’s signature after it passed the State Assembly and Senate back in June. Both are considered ‘game changer[s]” for workers and have been lauded for the effort to address gender pay gap across various industries. They join a growing list of states that includes Washington, Maryland, and California who have all passed similar legislation aimed at the issue, which also disproportionately affects women of color and is seen as one of the greatest drivers of economic inequality nationwide. 

"With salary ranges out in the open, employers must think critically about how they set pay at the front end of their process before they insert unconscious biases.”  Beverly Cooper and Seher Khawaja wrote in an op-ed for the New York Daily News last week. “At the same time, women and people of color have more leverage to advocate for themselves and more information to make better decisions about jobs and industries to pursue, helping to combat occupational segregation.”