QUESTION
What is the reason for the gender and racial pay disparities in New York City's municipal workforce despite controlling for work experience?
0:26:18
·
4 min
Women and non-white employees in New York City's municipal workforce are disproportionately receiving salaries below the midpoint of their salary bands, even after controlling for work experience.
- Around 95% of the salary bands and ranges are determined through collective bargaining agreements.
- The collective bargaining agreements set salary rates, minimum and maximum salaries, and rates for new hires.
- The Office of Management and Budget reviews and approves personnel actions like salary changes proposed by agencies.
- No clear explanation is provided for the disparities in the data shown.
Carmen N. De La Rosa
0:26:18
I'm gonna start my questioning.
0:26:21
By directing you all to the screen here, to my right.
0:26:26
On the screen is a bar chart that showing the percentage of workers receiving salaries below the midpoint of their salary band.
0:26:34
A salary band is the range between minimum and maximum salaries that an employee in a given title makes.
0:26:41
The first bar to the left in light gray is a city wide percentage with 47% of workers making below the midpoint of their salary ban.
0:26:51
Next to it is a set of bars with the percentages by agenda, who are making below the midpoint of their salary ban.
0:26:59
Female workers are in orange at 56% and male workers are shown in dark gray at 41%.
0:27:07
The last set of bars are the percentages by race and ethnicity.
0:27:10
Employees who identify as Asian black Hispanic Latino and other are depicted in the orange and between 49.54 percent are making below their salary bands midpoint compared to 36% of white workers who are depicted in the dark gray.
0:27:28
As you can see, the data analysis found that across the municipal workforce, female employees are significantly more likely to receive salaries below that midpoint of their salary ban when compared to the American male counterparts.
0:27:44
Similarly, salaries for non white employees are much more likely to fall below the midpoint of their salary ban.
0:27:51
However, pay and salary bands determined by determined in this case, and what is the administration's explanation as to why so many women and people of color are disproportionately falling below their band's midpoint even after controlling for work experience.
Katrina Porter
0:28:12
So I'll start off by saying that, as you may know, approximately 95% of the titles in the city's portfolio.
0:28:21
The salary bands and ranges are determined through collective bargaining.
0:28:26
And so with that, I would like to turn it over to my colleague who may be able to shed more light.
Carmen N. De La Rosa
0:28:31
Can you just repeat that real quick?
0:28:33
I I apologize.
Katrina Porter
0:28:33
No problem.
0:28:34
So I was explaining that the majority, almost 90% of the titles and the city's portfolio.
0:28:40
The salaries and the salary ranges are determined through collective bargaining.
0:28:45
So I want to turn it over to Mark Alexander.
Dan Pollak
0:28:49
Thank you for that question, Sergio De LaRosa.
0:28:52
So Salary bans are set in collective bargaining agreements.
0:28:56
You know, we have differences.
0:28:57
Some collective bargaining agreements establish.
0:29:00
Set salary rate for a title, some establish different rates based on years of service, and some establish a a minimum and a maximum salary as well as off a rate that's applicable to new hires.
0:29:11
So, you know, I'm not sure whether this data relates only to where there's a minimum and a maximum or if it also includes there are set salaries based on years of service.
0:29:20
So, you know, I think I couldn't speak fully on on it without knowing exactly what went into it in terms of salaries are determined.
0:29:28
In the if it's set by the collective bargaining agreement, then it's set by that.
0:29:33
In the event, there is a minimum and a maximum that's set by the agency, including through a process with the Office of Management And Budget, that all kind of personnel actions need to go through.
Carmen N. De La Rosa
0:29:45
Can you speak to the process?
Dan Pollak
0:29:48
No.
0:29:48
I'm I'm not the best person to speak to it fully, but Essentially, when there's an any type of personnel action, it's reviewed by the Office of Management And Budget.
0:29:57
The agency you know, makes the requests for the personnel action, and it's reviewed by OMV.
Carmen N. De La Rosa
0:30:08
And then in terms of the explanation as to why so many women and people of color are falling below the midpoints as controlling from work experience?
Dan Pollak
0:30:18
So, you know, like I said, I'm not sure I should answer that without kind of getting more into the data and what it includes, what it doesn't include, all you know, I I I don't have any answer for that at this time.
Carmen N. De La Rosa
0:30:28
We welcome a response back to the committee.
0:30:31
And if the response includes, you know, we have talked OMB.
0:30:35
If you could help us, you know, try and get some information from OMB on this issue, I think this really speaks to the heart of the council's findings here.
0:30:44
Which are showing that women and women of color, workers of color are falling disproportionately below.
0:30:50
So it's important for us as a council to really understand not only the process, understanding and respecting collective bargaining, but understanding how the that those processes work and why this specific sector of workers in the city are are disproportionately falling below.
0:31:07
It's important for us to understand.
Dan Pollak
0:31:08
Understood.
0:31:09
Council member, we'll get back to you.
Carmen N. De La Rosa
0:31:11
Thank you.
