Local Governance, Pay Equity, and the Pandemic: Applying New York City Human Rights Law to Salary Negotiation

Abstract

In the United States, equal pay is defined as a basic human right. Salary negotiation and other areas of the hiring process must also be structured within this human rights construct in order to fully achieve equality and its corresponding societal benefits. This Article applies New York City human rights law as a case study for how a local government may frame salary negotiation as a human right. In 2016, the New York City Council amended the body of its human rights law to add a ban on questions about salary history during the job interview process. This amendment has ignited debate about whether withholding information about past salary is helpful or harmful to job candidates. To create instead of hindering change, however, we should be asking—what additional mechanisms ensure that salary history ban legislation increases pay parity among different groups? Because of the impact salary has on a person’s life, well-being, and family, especially heightened for women, as evidenced during the coronavirus pandemic, this Article argues that the right to negotiate salary effectively and with transparency is a human right as plainly as the right to equal pay. This Article further urges local institutions and organizations to adopt this contextual view of the employment process. Especially now, in this global crisis of health, finance, and social justice, the right to equal pay is essential. The processes for accessing this basic human right must be equally considered.