A pay transparency law that will force many NYC companies to share salary ranges in job ads is drawing criticism from some business groups

• NYC's pay transparency bill requires companies to display minimum and maximum salaries in job ads.
• Some businesses are opposed to the mandate and have expressed concern about its impact.

Job postings in New York City will soon have to include salary range as part of a new pay transparency bill. But as The Wall Street Journal reported, some business groups are unhappy with the mandate.

Under the New York City Human Rights Law it will be unlawful for companies to advertise a "job, promotion, or transfer opportunity" without giving the minimum and maximum salary for the role.

Some companies are exempt, however, including those with fewer than four employees.

Partnership for New York City, a business group that builds partnerships between business and government, have opposed the law, despite their support to tackle the gender pay gap, the WSJ reported.

Kathryn Wylde, chief executive of the Partnership, told the outlet that the measure added to the perception that New York is unfriendly to business: "It's just the wrong solution. It should never have been allowed to go through," she said.

As Insider's Jason Lalljee reported in December, data shows that pay transparency can help people of color and women achieve pay equity. It may also help ease the labor shortage, which has negatively affected both large and small companies for many months.

The law is being introduced to address the pay gap between men and women, among other reasons. Women earn 84% of what men earned in 2020, according to Pew Research Center.

The NYC Commission on Human Rights, a group that seeks to combat discrimination and ensure human rights are respected, plans to initially help businesses and employees understand the new law and how best to implement it.

In a statement to the WSJ, Sapna V. Raj, deputy commissioner of the commission's law-enforcement bureau, said: "Our immediate goal is not to penalize, but to educate and work together with the city's business community, while still ensuring that individuals who have experienced discrimination are able to receive damages."