New York state recently made a few notable amendments to its Pay Transparency Law requiring New York employers to include pay ranges and job descriptions in advertisements for jobs, promotions and transfer opportunities.

After the Pay Transparency Law – which goes into effect on September 17, 2023 – was signed into law by Governor Hochul in December of 2022, many questions remained unanswered, particularly with respect to its applicability on remote and multi-state workers, as well as with regard to certain record-keeping obligations.

Prior to the recent amendments, the law was applied to all jobs which “can or will” be performed, at least in part, in the state of New York. This language seemed broad enough to cover remote positions outside of the state, but the new amendment confirms as much. Specifically, the Pay Transparency Law now states that it applies to advertisements and postings for jobs which will be “physically performed, at least in part, in the state of New York, including a job, promotion, or transfer opportunity that is physically performed outside of New York but reports to a supervisor, office, or other work site in New York.”

The amendments also add a definition of “advertise”, which appears to be in response to confusion over obligations relating to unadvertised positions. Specifically, the law now states that “advertise,” means “to make available to pool of potential applicants for internal or public viewing, including electronically, a written description of an employment opportunity.”

Finally, the law removed a section which formerly imposed obligations on employers to keep records pertaining to compensation ranges and job descriptions. From a practical standpoint, however, it still might make sense for employers to maintain these records to better allow them to provide accurate wage ranges or defend the accuracy of a job posting in the event of a dispute.

Given the recent amendments, there now exists some clarity regarding the applicability of the New York Pay Transparency Law, but the law does still direct the New York Department of Labor to issue regulations, so there will likely be additional clarifications once the Department of Labor issues those regulations.