Legal Update
Feb 23, 2017
Money Talks: NY DOL Adopts Regulations on Employee Discussion of Wages
Seyfarth Synopsis: New regulations from the NY Department of Labor clarify employers’ ability to limit employees’ discussion of wages.
Although posting of an employer policy is one permitted means of communication to employees, the DOL, in response to comments on an earlier draft of the regulations, expressly declined to impose a mandatory posting obligation.
The 2016 Labor Law amendment was part of a broader set of revisions aimed at eliminating the wage gap between men and women. The rationale was that if employees can discuss their wages with each other, they can more readily identify and seek to remedy disparities. Many employers are already aware of requirements under the National Labor Relations Act that prohibit employers from interfering with employees’ right to engage in “protected concerted activity,” including discussion of wages. However, since the NLRA generally does not apply to supervisors, many employers have policies restricting managers and executives from discussing wages. Any such employers in New York should revisit and modify their policies and handbooks to ensure that they are compliant with both the requirements of the NLRA and the new NYLL regulations.