ADVISORY: 10/9 Vote on Council Member Tiffany Cabán and Majority Leader Amanda Farías’s Historic Pay Equity Package
October 7, 2025
New York City
What: Int 982-2024 (Cabán) and Int-984-2024 (Farías) are expected to pass at the Council’s Stated Meeting on October 9, 2025. These bills comprise a sweeping legislative package designed to close wage gaps, foster salary transparency, and advance equal pay in New York City. The package establishes the most comprehensive local system in the nation for analyzing, publishing, and addressing pay disparities across the private sector.
Why it matters: We’ve all heard that women make 84 cents for every dollar men make -- but we want to know how that is playing out from workplace to workplace so that we can finally do something about it.
What effect will it have? In Europe and the UK, similar reporting policies have been proven to reduce the gender pay gap by up to 18%. A study on Danish legislation requiring internal pay reporting found that it reduced the gender pay gap by 13%.
Bill Details: Under Introduction 982, large corporations — defined as companies with 200 or more employees — must compile annual pay reports using the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s EEO-1 Component 2 categories and submit them to a city agency designated by the Mayor. Within the first year of enactment, the Mayor must select that agency, which will then build a standardized electronic submission system within the following year. One year later, companies will submit their first reports, which must be complete, certified for accuracy, and may include explanatory remarks. Importantly, the law preserves confidentiality for employees while requiring companies to attest to the accuracy of their submissions. Employers who fail to comply will face a tiered enforcement system, including written warnings, fines of up to $5,000, and annual public disclosure on a city website of those who refuse to comply.
Introduction 984 builds on this reporting foundation by requiring the designated agency, in collaboration with the Commission on Gender Equity and other relevant agencies, to conduct an annual pay equity study. Within one year of receiving employer reports, the city must analyze whether disparities in compensation exist by gender, race, and ethnicity, identify industries where inequities are most prevalent, and track trends in occupational segregation. Within six months of completing the study, the findings and recommendations must be delivered to the Mayor and the Speaker of the City Council, published online, and made available to the public. The published reports will include aggregated data that protects individual employee identities while exposing industry-wide inequities and recommending concrete employer action plans.
Together, these bills create a system of accountability: companies must provide accurate pay data; the city will study and publish results; and industries and employers will be expected to respond to recommendations. Over a four-and-a-half year rollout period, the city will establish the infrastructure for this reporting and analysis cycle, after which the process will repeat annually, ensuring ongoing oversight and progress toward wage equity.
Contact: Please contact Arden Dressner Levy at alevy@council.nyc.gov or 646-250-1957 with inquiries.
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