The New York City Council passed a pair of bills which, if enacted, would require large employers to report pay data by employee race and gender. The requirements would take effect immediately though, as described below, employers would not be required to submit information until the City creates the process for doing so.
The first bill () requires that an agency be designated within one year of the law taking effect, at which point the designated agency would have one year to develop a standardized fillable form for covered employers to submit pay reports.
Within one year of the designated agency publishing the standardized form, and annually thereafter, employers with 200 or more employees (including full-time, part-time and temporary employees) would be required to submit to the designated agency a pay report that includes current information corresponding with the categories of information required by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in the EEO-1 component 2 reporting requirements for reporting years 2017 and 2018 – i.e., race, ethnicity and gender. However, the designated agency would be authorized to adopt modifications, including but not limited to inclusion of reporting options accounting for different gender identities.
In addition to submitting the pay report, covered employers would be required to separately submit to the designated agency a signed statement confirming the submission and accuracy of the pay report. While employers would have an option to submit the pay report anonymously, the signed statement must identity the employer.
The designated agency would publish annually on its website a list of covered employers that are not in compliance with the law, provided that employers would first receive notice of their noncompliance and be provided at least 30 days to comply. Violations of the law would subject employers to civil penalties, as follows:
- For the first offense, a covered employer will be subject to a written warning if the employer provides, within 30 days of the service of summons, documentation indicating that such violation has been cured. If the employer fails to provide such documentation, they will be subject to a civil penalty of $1,000; and
- For any subsequent offense, a covered employer will be subject to a civil penalty of $5,000.
Within one year after covered employers submit their pay reports, and annually thereafter, the second bill () would require that the designated agency conduct a pay equity study and publish the data contained in the reports in the aggregate, and in a manner that does not reveal a covered employers’ or employee’s identifying information. The designated agency also would publish annually on its website a list of covered employers that fail to comply.
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The bills passed with more than 80% support from the Council, enough to override a potential veto by Mayor Eric Adams. We will continue to track this potential new law and report on further developments.