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Risky / jurisdiction-dependentPay transparency

Do you have to post a salary range in New York City job postings?

New York City's pay-transparency law generally requires covered employers (around four or more employees) to include a good-faith salary range in postings for jobs that can be performed in the city. The statewide New York law may also apply.

New York City's law generally requires employers with four or more employees to state a good-faith minimum and maximum salary or hourly range in advertisements for jobs, promotions and transfers that can be performed in the city.

Because the New York State pay-transparency law also applies, a city role often falls under both at once. Confirm how the city and state rules each apply to your specific posting.

Risky phrasing

“Hiring a Designer in NYC, competitive comp package.”

Compliant rewrite

Hiring a Designer in NYC, $90,000–$110,000 per year. (NYC generally requires a good-faith range; confirm current rules.)

The law at a glance

Law
New York City Local Law 32 of 2022 (salary transparency amendment to the New York City Human Rights Law)N.Y.C. Admin. Code § 8-107(32)
In effect
November 1, 2022
Who’s covered
Employers with four or more employees — counting owners and independent contractors, and counting workers outside the city, as long as at least one employee works in New York City — plus employers of one or more domestic workers. Employment agencies are generally covered regardless of size; temporary help firms are exempt (though state wage-disclosure rules can still apply to them).
Penalties
The NYC Commission on Human Rights can seek civil penalties of up to $250,000 under the city Human Rights Law for an uncured first violation or subsequent violations. A first violation carries a $0 penalty if the employer submits proof that it cured the posting within 30 days of receiving notice — though law-firm commentators caution that submitting proof of cure is treated as an admission of liability, which can matter if there is a later violation. Confirm current amounts with counsel.

What that means for a posting

  • Include a good-faith minimum and maximum annual salary or hourly wage in any advertisement for a job, promotion, or transfer opportunity that can or will be performed, at least in part, in New York City.
  • "Good faith" means the range the employer honestly believes, at the time of posting, it is willing to pay for the role. Commission guidance and enforcement activity suggest the range needs both a floor and a ceiling — open-ended ranges like "$15 per hour and up" don't comply — and ranges wide enough to look evasive have drawn scrutiny: one complaint reportedly alleged that a range spanning roughly $94,000, for a highly compensated role, was too wide to pass muster.
  • The requirement covers base pay only. You are generally not required to list bonuses, commissions, tips, equity, benefits, or paid time off in the range (unlike Colorado and Washington, which require benefits descriptions).
  • The rule applies to nearly any written ad, internal or external — job boards, LinkedIn, internal bulletin boards, flyers — but the law does not require you to advertise a position at all. If you hire without posting, the posting rule is not triggered.
  • Hourly and salaried roles are both covered, and coverage extends to part-time work, internships, and domestic-worker positions.

Remote and out-of-state postings

The law reaches any advertised job that can or will be performed, at least in part, in New York City — whether in an office, in the field, or remotely from a home in the city, per Commission guidance. An out-of-state employer is generally covered if it has four or more employees and at least one of them works in NYC. Postings for roles that cannot and will not be performed in the city, even in part, generally fall outside the law — but a remote role that an NYC-based candidate could perform is risky to exclude, and New York State's separate statewide law may cover it anyway.

How it’s actually enforced

The New York City Commission on Human Rights (NYCCHR) enforces the law. A January 2025 City Council review reported the Commission had initiated more than 30 salary-transparency cases — including against Tesla, News Corp, Indeed, and ZipRecruiter — and a February 2026 law-firm retrospective counted dozens of enforcement actions across hospitality, retail, technology, law firms, and nonprofits. But all were resolved privately, no penalty amounts have been made public, and the law has produced essentially no court decisions as of this writing. The softer side: the same Council review analyzed more than 60,000 postings and found employers across industries broadly complying, with many missing ranges traced to how job boards like Indeed and Google for Jobs scrape listings rather than to employer violations — and first-time violators get a 30-day cure window before any penalty. One more thing to watch: as of mid-2026 the posting rule itself has not been amended — proposed changes to the advertisement requirements did not come to a vote in 2025 — but in December 2025 the City Council did enact separate pay data reporting laws (Int. 982-A and 984-A) that will eventually require private employers with 200 or more NYC employees to file anonymized pay-data reports.

Common follow-ups

Does the NYC law apply to remote jobs or out-of-state employers?+

Generally yes, if the role can or will be performed at least in part in New York City — Commission guidance treats remote work from a home in the city as performing the job in the city. An employer based outside New York is generally covered once it has four or more employees and at least one works in NYC. If a role truly cannot and will not be performed in the city, the NYC law generally does not apply, but New York State's own pay transparency law may.

Can a job applicant sue over a posting with no salary range?+

Generally no. The law as amended gives a private right of action only to current employees suing their own employer over a non-compliant advertisement. Applicants and other members of the public cannot sue directly, but they can file a complaint with the NYC Commission on Human Rights, which can investigate and seek penalties.

Do I have to include bonuses, commissions, or benefits in the range?+

Generally no. The NYC range covers base annual salary or hourly wage only — commissions, bonuses, tips, equity, insurance, 401(k), and paid time off are not required in the posting. Be careful if you also post in states like Colorado or Washington, which do require a general description of benefits and other compensation.

Do internal promotions and transfers need a posted range?+

If you advertise them, generally yes — the law expressly covers advertisements for promotion and transfer opportunities, including internal postings. But the law does not force you to advertise at all; a promotion or hire made without any written advertisement generally does not trigger the posting requirement.

What about staffing and temp agencies?+

Employment agencies are generally covered by the NYC law regardless of size. Temporary help firms — businesses that recruit and employ workers to perform work for other organizations — are exempt from the NYC posting rule, although they remain subject to separate New York State wage-disclosure obligations. If you are a client company advertising your own roles, the exemption does not help you.

Does New York State's pay transparency law also apply to my NYC posting?+

Often yes. New York State's law (Labor Law § 194-b, effective September 17, 2023) also applies to employers with four or more employees and requires a compensation range and job description, if one exists, in ads for covered roles. A typical NYC posting can fall under both laws at once, and complaints about NYC positions can go to either the state Department of Labor or the NYC Commission on Human Rights, so a compliant posting should satisfy both.

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Sources

Last reviewed July 8, 2026. Laws change — always confirm current rules for your jurisdiction.FairHire is an informational tool, not legal advice. Have qualified counsel review your hiring questions before use.

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