Seher Khawaja
2:12:21
Efforts that have since reverberated across the country.
2:12:23
Because we have a clear roadmap for how the rights of women and people of color will soon be systematically degraded at the federal level, we are once again at a critical moment for New York City to lead to strengthen protections for those who are most vulnerable.
2:12:37
Since our pay transparency law was enacted 2 years ago now, we have proof that it works, that it's essential to closing the gender and racial pay gaps across income levels and that it can be improved.
2:12:49
Intro 808 a would make 6 improvements to address loopholes and gaps, improvements that are not unprecedented, and I'm going to highlight 3.
2:12:58
1st, the vague standard that requires that salary ranges be in good faith is unhelpful, encouraging posting of overbroad and inaccurate ranges.
2:13:05
808 a would clarify that a salary range should be based on objective factors like job responsibilities, requisite skills, and organizational budget.
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This standard pushes employers to price the job and not the person, limiting the role of discriminatory bias in salary setting.
2:13:21
2nd, under the current law, the posted pay range may not reflect what employers actually pay for the position, leaving us with zero transparency in those scenarios.
2:13:30
To close this loophole, 808 a correctly requires employers to keep a record if they pay outside the posted range.
2:13:37
Lastly, for decades, we have outlawed paid discrimination while denying employees the basic information that would allow them to assess whether they are being paid unfairly.
2:13:47
This is an absurd scheme that 808 a would correct by requiring that employers disclose pay ranges to existing employees for their current positions.
2:13:55
And very quickly, on intros 982 and 984, I will briefly say that while we have a number of recommendations for improving the efficacy of these bills, which will be in our written testimony, we are incredibly encouraged by their introduction and strongly support the implementation of a pay data reporting scheme in New York City.