New Westchester County and NYC Laws Mandate Changes to Employer Hiring Practices
Posted by [email protected] on Oct. 13, 2022 / Subscribe 0
New Westchester County and NYC Laws Mandate Changes to Employer Hiring Practices
By Tracey I. Levy
Westchester employers with four or more employees need to ensure they are prepared to comply with new pay transparency requirements, effective November 6, 2022. “Pay transparency” requires that employers include in all job postings – whether internal or external, printed or electronic – the minimum and maximum salary for the posted position. In determining the range to be posted, employers are expected to list whatever the employer honestly believes at the time to be the range it would pay for the position.
The posting requirement extends to any posted position that is required to be performed, in whole or in part, in Westchester County, whether from an office, in the field, or remotely. Significantly, the Westchester County ordinance is not taking effect in a vacuum. New York City employers are about to be subject to a very similar requirement, which takes effect November 1.
Pay transparency also may become law on a statewide basis in the near future. Both houses of the state legislature have passed a pay transparency requirement, which is pending submission to the governor for signature. Westchester County’s pay transparency law provides provides that it will become null and void on the day that statewide legislation goes into effect that includes the same or substantially similar provisions. If signed by the governor, the New York State version of pay transparency will be substantially the same as the Westchester law, but the state’s version takes effect 270 days after it is adopted, and thus there will be an interim period when the Westchester law will be controlling for covered employers.
Employers in New York City that use any form of artificial intelligence to automate some portion of their screening and review of job applicants additionally will be required, as of January 1, 2023, to disclose what automated tools they are using and for what purposes, and also to have conducted a bias audit of those tools. Bias audits must be conducted no more than one year prior to the use of the tool, and a summary of the results of the bias audit needs to be made publicly available on the employer’s website.
The new law additionally requires employers to notify job applicants at least ten business days in advance that an automated decision tool is being used to evaluate them. The notice must specify the job qualifications the tool is using for its assessments and allow the candidate to request an alternative selection process. Each day that an employer uses an automated assessment tool that does not comply with the law is considered a separate violation, as is each time an employer fails to provide the proper notice, with a penalty that ranges from $500 to $1,500 per violation.
The city recently issued proposed rules on the AI tool bias audit and notice requirements. Complying with the city’s process will require advance planning. Given the penalties for noncompliance, New York City employers that are using these tools are advised to seek employment law advice to ensure they are appropriately preparing for the new law.
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