Investigation reveals job search platforms leave out required salary information for thousands of jobs
Council recommends full funding and staffing for Commission on Human Rights, public notice of enforcement actions, and improved government collaboration to strengthen enforcement
City Hall, NY – Today, the New York City Council released New York City Strives for Pay Equity, an investigative report analyzing employer compliance with and agency enforcement of New York City’s landmark Salary Transparency Law. First passed in 2021 and amended in 2022, the Salary Transparency Law went into effect in November 2022 and requires jobs posted in New York City to include minimum and maximum salary ranges that the employer would pay for the position. This requirement reduces pay disparities and compensation biases by making clear for job candidates upfront what they could expect to be paid. To evaluate the implementation of the law, the Council’s Oversight and Investigations Division (OID) reviewed enforcement efforts with senior staff at the New York City Commission on Human Rights (CCHR), which is responsible for ensuring its application. The Data Team of the Council’s Legislative Division also analyzed more than 60,000 unique job postings from Indeed and Google for Jobs to assess how many postings included salary information, how wide the ranges were, and what industries were represented.
Through its investigation, the Council found that job seekers could encounter thousands of posts on two popular job search platforms, Indeed and Google for Jobs, without a salary range. This is considered to be due to the method that these platforms use to scrape listings from other websites and original sources. The Council report recommends that CCHR engage these platforms to address their listings’ lack of the required salary information. The Council also discovered that despite CCHR’s over two dozen agency-initiated cases against employers that were resolved, the agency failed to make public any resolutions resulting from their enforcement. The Council believes making enforcement actions and resulting outcomes public, where feasible, would be important to improving compliance, deterrence, and transparency. The Council report also recommends increased funding and staffing for CCHR, as well as stronger collaboration by other government agencies and the State Department of Labor with CCHR, to enhance compliance with the law.
Please see the full report here for a deeper look at the investigation, findings, and recommendations, as well as the methodology used.
“The Council enacted New York City’s groundbreaking salary transparency law to address longstanding pay inequities impacting our communities and advance fairness for all job seekers,” said Speaker Adrienne Adams. “Our report analyzing the efficacy of this law, two years after it went into effect, finds that though there is room for improvement to bolster compliance, this law is largely achieving what we intended upon its passage. However, the City Commission on Human Rights will still need adequate funding and staffing levels to fulfill its responsibilities and enforce the law. I thank the Council staff for their work on this important report, and I look forward to continued collaboration with all stakeholders to achieve the pay equity all New Yorkers deserve.”
Some of the Council’s findings from its investigation include:
1. Though reported to be a widespread issue when the law first took effect, wide salary ranges in job postings were found to be rare. In the Council’s analysis, maximum salaries in an overwhelming majority of job postings have been less than double the minimum salary listed. Job postings with the widest salary ranges leaned towards performance and commission-based roles and were most prominent among roles in the finance and insurance industries.
2. The Council’s analysis found that thousands of New York City job listings posted on Indeed and Google for Jobs did not include salary ranges, due to an issue with how these job search platforms scrape postings from other sources.
3. CCHR initiated over 30 salary transparency cases, including against Tesla, News Corp, Indeed, and ZipRecruiter, but has yet to make a single announcement regarding the resolutions of the cases they have closed. This leaves the public unaware of the outcomes of their enforcement. In the past, CCHR has publicized the results of its other non-salary transparency enforcement actions.
4. CCHR has struggled to maintain full staffing to execute its mandate, particularly for attorneys in its Law Enforcement Bureau. The agency has 112 active employees, despite being approved for 136 staffers. The most recent November Financial Plan reveals that the mayoral Administration plans to hold budgeted headcount at current levels until Fiscal Year 2027, when eight positions are poised to be cut.
The Council’s recommendations to improve compliance with the law include:
1. CCHR should work towards addressing missing salaries in job postings that are scraped from other websites. The agency should engage directly with job search platforms like Indeed and Google for Jobs to identify solutions to resolve this issue so that salary ranges are maintained in job postings.
2. CCHR should publicize the results of its salary transparency cases as it has done for other enforcement actions to promote compliance and deter violations. Without this clarity, little is known about how the agency has resolved the cases it has closed.
3. The mayoral administration should provide the full funding and support CCHR needs to fulfill its responsibility to enforce New York City’s Human Rights Law and protect New Yorkers’ rights.
4. The Administration should support CCHR in advancing widespread compliance through collaboration with other agencies that engage employers and job seekers, like the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (DCWP) and the Department of Small Business Services (SBS). CCHR should also seek to increase its coordination with the State Department of Labor that enforces a similar state law to align efforts and maximize impact.
Local Law 32 of 2022, sponsored by former Council Member Helen Rosenthal, was passed by the Council in 2021 and made it unlawful for employers to advertise jobs without providing the minimum and maximum salaries in all job postings for positions in New York City. The law was later amended in 2022 to add a cure period for first time violations, clarify the positions and employees the law applies to, and provide more time to ensure compliance. The success and impact of the city’s law later sparked state action, which led to the New York State Assembly and Senate passing, and the Governor signing the Pay Transparency Act to expand salary transparency requirements to employers statewide.
“For the past two years, the city’s landmark salary transparency law has shined a light on the expected pay in an opaque job market,” said Deputy Speaker Diana Ayala. “Every single New Yorker seeking employment no longer has to go through multiple rounds of interviews just to learn whether a job will pay them enough to survive. This straightforward requirement has not only evened the playing field for job applicants but also helped employers attract the appropriate talent. The work to address the gender wage gap continues and I thank the Council’s Oversight and Investigation Division for their investigation.”
“The OID’s report confirms the importance of salary transparency laws in providing fair opportunities for job seekers and ensuring pay equity across New York City,” said Majority Leader Amanda Farias. “While it highlights the progress made and the need for these laws, it also points to the critical need for the Commission on Human Rights (CCHR) to be fully funded and staffed to ensure the law’s continued success. Transparency builds trust, but without adequate staffing, enforcement becomes difficult. I look forward to working with the administration and my colleagues to expand these protections and ensure that all New Yorkers benefit from clear, fair wages.”
“This report underscores the urgent need for full compliance with salary transparency laws, especially on job search platforms, and highlights the necessity of implementing targeted strategies to address wide salary ranges,” said Majority Whip Selvena Brooks-Powers. “As the findings reveal, such ranges, though uncommon, undermine the intent of these laws to provide actionable information to job seekers. My bill, Intro 808, addresses these concerns by requiring employers to justify salary ranges based on specific, enforceable criteria. By implementing clear standards, we can take a decisive step toward advancing pay equity and guaranteeing that every New Yorker has access to fair and transparent wages in their job search.”
“I am proud to have been a part of the efforts to pass the Salary Transparency Law and strengthen it for small businesses and job seekers alike,” said Council Member Justin Brannan. “This is a common sense law that should be replicated across the nation. There’s no reason for salary information to be concealed. This is a prime example of government working in the interests of everyday people who deserve to know how much a company is offering to pay them. Every effort we put towards ending pay disparities puts more money in working people’s pockets. This Council is going to keep fighting to do just that.”
“The report confirms that the City Council’s salary transparency laws work, and so does enforcement by CCHR,” said Council Member Gale Brewer, Chair of the Committee on Oversight and Investigations. “There’s no reason we can’t get the number of violations to zero. CCHR should build on initial enforcement successes by staffing up and engaging operators of job search platforms that still display postings without salary, no matter what their intentions or how they source the material. The people who run the tech have to be held accountable. I would also like CCHR to share more information and enforcement outcomes with the City Council and the general public. I look forward to collaborating with CCHR, and I thank the Oversight and Investigations Division for its excellent work.”
“The first report on salary transparency highlights the profound impact of Local Law 59 in fostering pay equity across New York City,” said Council Member Dr. Nantasha Williams, Chair of the Committee on Civil and Human Rights. “By requiring employers to disclose salary ranges, we’ve equipped job seekers with a critical tool to advocate for fair compensation. This report confirms that while compliance is strong and enforcement efforts are commendable, we must continue to refine and strengthen this landmark law to ensure it fully achieves its promise of transparency and equity for all New Yorkers.”
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