New York, NY <\/strong>\u2014 Today, on Latina Equal Pay Day, New York City Council Majority Leader Amanda Far\u00edas and Council Member Tiffany Cab\u00e1n call for a final push to pass a historic pay equity package designed to close wage gaps, foster salary transparency, and advance equal pay in New York City. The package, composed of Introduction 982 (Cab\u00e1n) and Introduction 984 (Far\u00edas), establishes a comprehensive local system for analyzing, publishing, and addressing pay disparities across the private sector.<\/p>\n Latina Equal Pay Day marks how far into the year Latina workers must work to catch up to what white, non-Hispanic men earned in the previous year \u2014 a stark reminder of entrenched wage inequities. Nationally, Latinas earn only 57 cents for every dollar earned by white, non-Hispanic men, with ripple effects across housing, healthcare, and intergenerational wealth. The Far\u00edas\u2013Cab\u00e1n package directly addresses these inequities by requiring large employers to report pay data annually, empowering the city to study and publish findings, and holding non-compliant companies publicly accountable.<\/p>\n “Every dollar a woman is denied is a dollar taken from her family, her community, and her future. On Latina Equal Pay Day, we are reminded that Latinas face one of the widest wage gaps in the nation, earning just 55 cents for every dollar paid to white, non-Hispanic men \u2014 a loss that can total more than a million dollars over a lifetime. With this legislation, New York City is leading the nation by ensuring inequities are measured, studied, corrected, and enforced.” Said Majority Leader Amanda Far\u00edas<\/strong>, “By requiring employers to report pay data, mandating an annual citywide pay equity study, and publishing public recommendations, we are ensuring that transparency leads to action \u2014 and that women and historically marginalized groups are finally paid what they deserve.”<\/p>\n \u201cInjustice persists when it\u2019s allowed to hide in the shadows. With this historic pay equity package, we\u2019re pulling back the curtain. By requiring large employers to report pay data and by mandating rigorous, public analysis, we\u2019re giving policymakers the information needed to close wage gaps at their root. These bills are about accountability and equity for New Yorkers, especially the women and people of color who have been underpaid and undervalued for generations. When we shine a light on inequity, we create the conditions to end it.\u201dSaid Council Member Tiffany Cab\u00e1n<\/strong>.<\/p>\n “The unacceptable wage gap for Latinas and other groups calls for concrete interventions like requiring companies to report equal pay data, as mandated by Intros 982 and 984. This best practice in Europe and countries around the world has helped uncover and remedy disparities. Thank you to NYC Council member Tiffany Caban for pushing these laws forward, and to NYC Council Majority Leader Amanda Farias for championing wage equity for all workers and for advancing bold solutions to close the gender and racial wage and opportunity gaps,” said Beverly Neufeld, President, PowHer New York. <\/strong><\/p>\n Under Introduction 982, covered employers \u2014 defined as companies with 200 or more employees \u2014 must compile annual pay reports using the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission\u2019s EEO-1 Component 2 categories and submit them to a city agency designated by the Mayor. Within the first year of enactment, the Mayor must select that agency, which will then build a standardized electronic submission system within the following year. One year later, companies will submit their first reports, which must be complete, certified for accuracy, and may include explanatory remarks. Importantly, the law preserves confidentiality for employees while requiring companies to attest to the accuracy of their submissions. Employers who fail to comply will face a tiered enforcement system, including written warnings, fines of up to $5,000, and annual public disclosure on a city website of those who refuse to comply.<\/p>\n Introduction 984 builds on this reporting foundation by requiring the designated agency, in collaboration with the Commission on Gender Equity and other relevant agencies, to conduct an annual pay equity study. Within one year of receiving employer reports, the city must analyze whether disparities in compensation exist by gender, race, and ethnicity, identify industries where inequities are most prevalent, and track trends in occupational segregation. Within six months of completing the study, the findings and recommendations must be delivered to the Mayor and the Speaker of the City Council, published online, and made available to the public. The published reports will include aggregated data that protects individual employee identities while exposing industry-wide inequities and recommending concrete employer action plans.<\/p>\n Together, these bills create a closed-loop system of accountability: companies must provide accurate pay data; the city will study and publish results; and industries and employers will be expected to respond to recommendations. Over a four-and-a-half year rollout period, the city will establish the infrastructure for this reporting and analysis cycle, after which the process will repeat annually, ensuring ongoing oversight and progress toward wage equity.<\/p>\n \u201cLatina women in New York City earn less than half of what white men do\u2014a stark reminder that pay inequity is both a gender and racial justice issue. The Community Service Society of New York strongly supports Intro 982 and 984 because they take the burden of uncovering wage disparities off individual workers and place responsibility where it belongs\u2014on employers. As an organization dedicated to advancing economic security for everyday New Yorkers, we see these bills as critical tools to make our city\u2019s workplaces fairer and more transparent.\u201d Said David R. Jones, CEO and President of the Community Service Society of New York<\/strong><\/p>\n At 54 cents to the dollar, the pay gap for Latinas should serve as an urgent call to action to correct a discriminatory economy that grossly devalues the work of women of color. Under the leadership of Majority Leader Far\u00edas and Council Member Cab\u00e1n, we have an opportunity to answer that call by enacting Intros 982 and 984. Together, these bills advance equity through transparency: establishing an employer reporting system that will identify disparities, highlight the worst industries, and capture trends in occupational segregation. This type of reporting not only delivers critical data on the pay gap, it fuels greater employer accountability by requiring employers to compile and, thus, confront internal pay disparities.\u201d Said Seher Khawaja, Director of Economic Justice & Deputy Legal Director of Legal Momentum<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cNew York\u2019s wage gap remains a stark reflection of gender and racial inequities\u2014affecting women across race, age, and education, and hitting women of color hardest. Our Unequal Ground report shows that for every dollar earned by a white man, white women earn 86 cents, Asian women 72 cents, Black women 57 cents, and Hispanic\/Latina women just 54 cents. To close these gaps, we must raise wages for childcare workers, strengthen tax credits for low-income families, and enforce stronger wage transparency laws. More than 60 years after the Equal Pay Act, women still earn less than men in nearly every field. Pay equity isn\u2019t just an economic issue\u2014it\u2019s a matter of justice and civic participation.\u201d\u00a0Said Sharon Sewell-Fairman, President, Women Creating Change<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cThese bills bring New York closer to the future women deserve\u2014one where pay equity is not aspirational, but expected. As we mark Latina Equal Pay Day, we\u2019re reminded that transparency is essential to closing the gaps that hold women\u2014especially women of color\u2014back. By shining a light on pay inequities that have remained hidden for too long, we can finally turn data into lasting change.\u201d Said Kate Permut, Chair, Westchester Women\u2019s Agenda<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cAs we observe Latina Equal Pay Day, we are taking a moment to highlight the fact that Latinas were paid nearly half of what non-Hispanic white men were paid last year. This disparity leads to an approximate loss of $1.3 million over the course of a Latina\u2019s career,\u201d said Diana Caba, Vice President for Community & Economic Development at Hispanic Federation.<\/strong> \u201cData like this is essential in creating policies that will support pay equity. That\u2019s why Hispanic Federation applauds the legislation proposed by City Council Members Tiffany Cab\u00e1n and Amanda Far\u00edas to create the city\u2019s first enforceable system to track, study, and correct pay disparities in the private sector. If passed, this legislation will take us one step closer in closing the Latina pay gap.”\u00a0<\/p>\n <\/p>\n ###<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE New York, NY <\/strong>\u2014 Today, on Latina Equal Pay Day, New York City Council Majority Leader Amanda Far\u00edas and Council Member Tiffany Cab\u00e1n call for a final push to pass a historic pay equity package designed to close wage gaps, foster salary transparency, and advance equal pay in New York City. The package, composed of Introduction 982 (Cab\u00e1n) and Introduction 984 (Far\u00edas), establishes a comprehensive local system for analyzing, publishing, and addressing pay disparities across the private sector.<\/p>\n …<\/p>\n
October 8, 2025<\/p>\n