New York Governor Kathy Hochul has signed legislation establishing a statewide pay transparency law in New York State. The law was passed by both the New York State Assembly and Senate in June, and requires employers to list salary ranges for all advertised jobs and promotions.

The new legislation closely resembles a similar salary transparency law that recently came into force in New York City last month, requiring employers of at least four 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 law will apply to jobs which “can or will be performed” in the state, as well as positions that are performed out of state but report to a New York employer. Individuals will be able to report violations of the law to the New York State Department of Labor, which can issue fines for non-compliance.

“In order for New York to continue being the best place to work, we must create the best protections for our workers - and this legislation will help do exactly that,” Governor Hochul said on signing the measure. “This historic measure will usher in a new era of fairness and transparency for New York's workforce and will be a critical tool in our efforts to end pervasive pay gaps for women and people of color.”

The law will be in-effect across the state as of September 17th 2023.

New York is one of several states to introduce or upgrade salary transparency laws in 2022. In early September California lawmakers updated and passed their own salary transparency law, which was signed into law by Governor Newsom later that month. Measures designed to improve salary transparency already exist on a state-wide level in Colorado, Nevada, Connecticut, Washington, and Maryland. 

You can help us in our continued effort to provide salary insights into architectural practice across the USA by anonymously responding to the Architecture Salary Poll here.