Peter Shapiro Speaks with SHRM for Article on Recently-Enacted NYC Pay Transparency Law

New York, N.Y. (November 18, 2022) - New York Partner and Northeast Regional Vice-Chair of Lewis Brisbois’ Labor & Employment Practice Peter T. Shapiro recently spoke with the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) for an article titled, “NYC Employers Adapting to Pay Transparency Law.” The article discusses a newly enacted law in New York City that requires employers to include a good-faith salary range in job postings.

As the article describes, employers have taken various approaches in complying with the new law, with some providing quite large salary spreads in job postings. This type of approach has raised questions concerning what constitutes “good faith” in providing salary ranges, and specifically, whether salary spreads may be too wide such that they violate the law and render the information meaningless to job seekers. As the article points out, an employer’s failure to comply with the law may result in a warning following the first infraction and a fine up to $250,000 for the second violation.

Mr. Shapiro told SHRM, "If I get a resume from somebody who's just out of school with no experience, I might pay them at the bottom of our pay scale. Whereas, if somebody has been in this business for 20 years and also has qualifications, I'll go to the top of my range . . . . That's a good-faith basis, as far as I'm concerned. But to propose a range so wide it's fictitious, that is where you might have a problem."

Mr. Shapiro has more than 30 years of litigation experience. Focusing on the defense of employment discrimination, ADA access, non-compete, wage and hour, civil rights, and trade secret matters, he also counsels clients on employment law compliance issues.

Read the full SHRM article here.