Testimony to New York City Council's Committee On Civil and Human Rights

If you are being watched, leave now!

Date: 

December 2, 2021

December 2nd, 2021, Senior Attorney Seher Khawaja delivered oral and written testimony on Int.  No. 1208 and the benefits of pay transparency laws to New York City Council's Committee on Civil and Human Rights.

 

Gender- and racial-based pay inequity remains prevalent in our workplaces, particularly for women of color and women doing low-wage work. Pay equity cannot be achieved without addressing pay transparency. Since employers are reluctant to make the move on their own, we need the law to level the playing field by requiring all employers to disclose compensation ranges for positions up front, at the beginning of the hiring process and to existing employees. Pay disclosure laws serve as a necessary tool to push employers to move towards more transparent practices that benefit employees and employers alike.

 

"Pay transparency laws that require employers to disclose compensation ranges for positions serve various critical functions.

  • They standardize salary setting to eliminate opportunities for employers to inject overt and implicit bias
  • They make processes more fair, particularly for women of color who too often are subject to the most exploitative wage practices that are perpetuated in the dark behind closed doors
  • They breathe life into our existing equal pay laws by giving workers information to identify pay disparities where they exist;
  • They help employers establish more streamlined, efficient and fair pay practices to avoid problematic pay disparities;
  • And they help level the playing field for workers, giving women and people of color more leverage in the hiring process."

 

  • Workplace Equality and Economic Empowerment

Author(s): 

Seher Khawaja
  • Women Valued Initiative

Download: 

Resource Type: