STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
6737--A
2017-2018 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
June 15, 2017
___________
Introduced by Sens. CARLUCCI, ALCANTARA -- read twice and ordered print-
ed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Rules --
committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and
recommitted to said committee
AN ACT to amend the labor law, in relation to prohibiting wage or salary
history inquiries
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. The labor law is amended by adding a new section 194-a to
2 read as follows:
3 § 194-a. Wage or salary history inquiries prohibited. 1. No employer
4 shall:
5 a. rely on the wage or salary history of a prospective employee in
6 determining the wages or salary for such individual.
7 b. orally or in writing seek, request, or require the wage or salary
8 history from a prospective employee or current or former employee as a
9 condition to be interviewed, or as a condition of continuing to be
10 considered for an offer of employment, or as a condition of employment
11 or promotion.
12 c. orally or in writing seek, request, or require the wage or salary
13 history of a prospective employee or current or former employee from a
14 current or former employer except as provided in subdivision 3 of this
15 section.
16 d. refuse to interview, hire, promote, otherwise employ, or otherwise
17 retaliate against a prospective employee or current or former employee
18 based upon prior wage or salary history.
19 e. refuse to interview, hire, promote, otherwise employ, or otherwise
20 retaliate against a prospective employee because the prospective employ-
21 ee or current or former employee did not provide wage or salary history
22 in accordance with this section.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD05679-13-7
S. 6737--A 2
1 f. refuse to interview, hire, promote, otherwise employ, or otherwise
2 retaliate against a prospective employee or current or former employee
3 because the prospective employee or current or former employee filed a
4 complaint with the department alleging a violation of this section.
5 2. Nothing in this section shall prevent a prospective employee or
6 current or former employee from voluntarily disclosing wage or salary
7 history, including but not limited to for the purposes of negotiating
8 wages or salary.
9 3. A prospective employer may confirm wage or salary history only if
10 at the time an offer of employment with compensation is made, the
11 prospective employee or current or former employee responds to the offer
12 by providing prior wage information to support a wage higher than
13 offered by the employer.
14 4. For the purposes of this section, "employer" shall include but not
15 be limited to any person, corporation, limited liability company, asso-
16 ciation, labor organization, or entity employing any individual in any
17 occupation, industry, trade, business or service. For the purposes of
18 this section, the term "employer" shall include the state, any political
19 subdivision thereof, any public authority or any other governmental
20 entity or instrumentality thereof, and any person, corporation, limited
21 liability company, association or entity acting as an employment agent,
22 recruiter, or otherwise connecting prospective employees and with
23 employers.
24 5. (a) If the commissioner finds, after notice and an opportunity to
25 be heard, that an employer has violated the provisions of this section,
26 the commissioner may by an order which shall describe particularly the
27 nature of the violation, assess a civil penalty of not more than one
28 thousand dollars for the first such violation, not more than two thou-
29 sand dollars for a second violation and not more than three thousand
30 dollars for a third or subsequent violation. Such penalty shall be paid
31 to the commissioner for deposit in the treasury of the state. In assess-
32 ing the amount of the penalty, the commissioner shall give due consider-
33 ation to the size of the employer's business, the good faith of the
34 employer, the gravity of the violation, and the history of previous
35 violations.
36 (b) A prospective employee or current or former employee aggrieved by
37 a violation of this section may bring a civil action for compensation
38 for any damages sustained as a result of such violation on behalf of
39 such employee, other persons similarly situated, or both, in any court
40 of competent jurisdiction. The court may award injunctive relief as well
41 as reasonable attorneys' fees to a plaintiff who prevails in a civil
42 action brought under this paragraph.
43 6. Prospective employees, or current or former employees, may seek
44 enforcement of the provisions of this section, including pursuant to
45 section one hundred ninety-eight of this article.
46 7. The department shall conduct a public awareness outreach campaign,
47 which shall include making information available on its website, and
48 otherwise informing employers of the provisions of this section.
49 § 2. This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after
50 it shall have become a law.
