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Brian Lehrer: Brian Lehrer on WNYC. We're going to end the show today by opening up the phones for any of you to call in who happen to be job hunting right now in New York City, specifically to share how you're using the new information that just became law yesterday - salary transparency. 212-433-WNYC. I know we've only got one day of experience with this on the books, but some companies, some employers started posting their salary ranges before they had to yesterday, so maybe we'll get some experience that's a few weeks or even a few months old as well.

Here on day 2 of the salary transparency law that went into effect in New York City requiring almost all employers to list salary ranges for jobs within their companies, we are opening up the phones for you to call in and share what you're seeing and how you're using that information. Tweet @BrianLehrer or better yet, give us a call and tell your story. 212-433-WNYC, 212-433-9692.

Now, Bloomberg News reports by way of context that the salary transparency rollout has been glitchy so far with "disappearing job listings, missing salary information, and roles that pay anywhere between nothing and $2 million a year." That's from Bloomberg News. Has anyone come across information that looks like it's been intentionally kind of useless or even unintentionally is kind of useless? According to Axios, a senior analyst role advertised on the Macy's job site is listed as paying between $85,000 and $142,000 a year. That's quite a range, $85,000 to $142,000.

What salary are you actually applying for, and what good does it do with this transparency law to have a range that big? Who's looking at these for a job hunt right now and has a story to tell? 212-433-WNYC, 433-9692. A senior podcast producer role at the Wall Street Journal advertises a New York City pay range of $50,000 to $180,000. That's a podcast producer role with that big a salary range depending on the individual. $50,000 to $180,000. If you've seen some really wide salary ranges or noticed missing ones or anything else that seems strange, help us report this story. Give us a call. 212-433-WNYC, 212-433-9692.

Some of you heard we had City Council Member Justin Brannan of Brooklyn as a guest on the show yesterday. He was one of the sponsors of this law. Besides not having remembered at first that they didn't have to keep their postings within a particular range, he said there is a clause in the law that says a good faith salary range. That City Council would be revisiting this from time to time to look at the salary ranges and whether they're being posted as in good faith as something that has meaning to accomplish the real goal, which is more equality in salaries and legitimate bargaining power for the job seekers.

If $85,000 to $142,000 is a good faith salary range for a senior analyst at Macy's, well, maybe City Council is going to have to take up that question. Tell us your story if you've been looking at the want ads and seeing these salary ranges since it became law just yesterday. 212-433-WNYC, 212-433-9692.

I guess there's another category of you who could call too. Which is to say even if you're not on the job hunt right now, as an existing employee, have you suddenly found out how your salary compares with those of new recruits in similar roles? Were you able to glean those salaries from job posts? What did you find out and what are you planning to do without information, if anything? Maybe some of you were going to go to your managers and ask for a raise. 212-433-WNYC, 212-433-9692.

Maybe you've looked up your company's competitor, aha, and seen what they pay for your position over there. Maybe that's how some people are going to use this to enhance their pay prospects. Your company, especially if you work for a big one, probably knows those industry-wide salaries sometimes called the benchmark. Now you as an employee can know them too, at least within these sometimes crazy-wide ranges that they post.

How is this changing your perception of your job? Who's looking these things up even if you are employed? Are you planning on suddenly applying elsewhere or using this as leverage in negotiations? Tell us your story. 212-433-WNYC, 212-433-9692 on day 2 of the new transparency law in New York City. Let everybody else know how this is starting out of the gate with whatever your interaction with them has been.

One funny one. Citibank had a position posted whose salary range was $0 to $2 million a year. [chuckles] They said it was a computer glitch. Some of them take cost of living into account. Here's an example. A tax director at PricewaterhouseCoopers, you might make somewhere between $144,000 and $368,000 in Colorado, which is a huge range in and of itself. Or in New York, according to the Wall Street Journal, $158,000 up to $434,000. That's one that the Wall Street Journal flagged.

Anybody else come across that cost of living in different areas posting as well, even if the posting is in New York so it's subject to the law? Let's hear how you're interacting with these salary range postings. 212-433-WNYC. Kathy in Valley Stream, you're on WNYC. Hi, Kathy.

Kathy: Hi. I would take a range any day. I've been searching for a job for about six months, and so many of the jobs I'm applying for have no salary information at all. I spend so much time on my cover letters, reading the job description and figuring out how that matches my skills, and looking at the company online trying to understand them. I just put so much work into it. Not only is there no response-- I have so many things out there that I have no idea where I am. Like I said, I don't even know what I'm applying for, and it's an important piece of information, so that's nice.

Brian Lehrer: When you go to an interview - if you've gotten that far recently - in an interview, when do you feel comfortable asking the salary?

Kathy: Oh, boy. Well, not until the very end. Because many of these interviews are multi-step processes in the first interview, I don't think I bring it up at all. I don't want to-

Brian Lehrer: Yes. In case you don't want to--

Kathy: -exclude myself on the basis of that.

Brian Lehrer: Kathy, thank you very much. Tom in East Village, you're on WNYC. Hi, Tom. Tom, are you there? Do we have Tom in the East Village? Well, I'll say Kathy, good luck out there, by the way, after your call. Let's see. Let's try Will in Rockland County. You're on WNYC. Hi, Will.

Will: Hello. I was telling your screen caller that they are attracting more newcomers offering a larger salary or a lot more than we were offered two, four years ago. They're not quite as qualified. I'm in a fast-paced automotive service industry without getting into engine or transmission work. Big corporation. I'm going to use that as leverage when I transfer down south, even though they always say that down south the cost of living is cheaper than New York. It is overall, but the rent and everything has just skyrocketed. I was there a month ago. My kids go to UNCC down there in Charlotte. I found a two-bedroom apartment for $1,800 a month, which is out of this world. It's going [crosstalk].

Brian Lehrer: It's a lot cheaper than New York, but I hear you. Did you actually see an ad for a position similar to yours at a salary higher than yours?

Will: Yes. I get emails from the company just about every day. They are offering a higher wage entry level for people with basically little experience because it's on-site training if you're in some kind of customer service experience.

Brian Lehrer: Because of the labor shortage, I imagine.

Will: That's correct. Basically, I've been here for four years and it's a good job with benefits, but it's time to make this across the board.

Brian Lehrer: Make this move and use it for leverage. I hear you. Will, thank you very much. Good luck out there. Now I think we have Tom in East Village. Tom, you're on WNYC. Are you there?

Tom: Yes, Brian. Good morning and thank you for discussing this topic.

Brian Lehrer: Sure.

Tom: In my case timing is perfect because I'm in process of reapplying to my former employer. Now, for the first time, I'm able to see what the range is, which surely will be helpful in my discussions.

Brian Lehrer: All right. Go for it, and good luck. Juliana in Montclair, you're on WNYC. Hi, Juliana.

Juliana: Hi. I was just telling your screener that this is really interesting timing because I just was offered a freelance opportunity yesterday. I remember the lucky man but I felt awkward asking if they had it posted anywhere, and I didn't see the job posted anywhere. I didn't know because I never worked as a freelancer, so I was texting all my friends to ask what they thought the hourly rate was. I wasn't sure. Is this law also for freelance? If it's not posted somewhere, how does one go about it?

Brian Lehrer: Yes to your question about whether it's for freelance as well. I'm looking at the CNBC website. A quote here says, "Full and part-time employees, interns, domestic workers, independent contractors, or any other category of worker protected by the New York City Human Rights Law." That's a quote from CNBC's coverage. Also, it applies to businesses with four or more employees. If it's so small that it's less than four then it wouldn't apply. Otherwise, it sounds like it would apply to your gig work application as long as it's a New York City company.

Juliana: Yes, it is. Okay, great. Thank you.

Brian Lehrer: You're welcome. Then to her other question about how does she go about getting it out of them? Well, then she winds up back in that same tricky position as an applicant that one of the other callers was talking about, right? When you're applying for a job with somebody, when do you open your mouth and say, "You know, you're not complying with the law. You should really tell me what salary range is." It's complicated but somebody could report them. There are supposed to be warnings and then penalties for companies that don't comply. Charlie in Sunnyside, you're on WNYC. Hi, Charlie.

Charlie: Hi, Brian. Thank you so much for taking my call. I'm calling with more of a concern. I'm starting to notice companies, they do love their loopholes, and they do love their tricky language. Just looking around this morning, I'm seeing now a lot of forthrightness in some companies. I'm an actor so I do a lot of contract work, and I haven't really seen that reflected in audition calls or auditions for specific roles. They'll either just say standard union rate or non-union rate.

I guess my concern is what is preventing companies from enacting loopholes. Or they're hiring you for one position, and you're about this position because of the salary, and then they bring you into the interview and say, "Well, actually you're more qualified for this position." They're vague on the rate, or it's a little bit lower. I just hope there's--

Brian Lehrer: Yes. Maybe they haven't posted that position. I think you bring up something that is a potential loophole. They post one position, but then potentially bring you in and say, "Well, not for that for you, but you're qualified for this position," which they haven't posted publicly so the salary range didn't have to be out there. I guess that could happen. You're right, the employers are going to look for the loopholes. It's going to be up to City Council and the press and others to see what loopholes people open and try to exploit.

We'll give our last minute to David in Stanford, who I think is going to give us a perspective on this from human resources. David, you run an HR consultancy, is that right?

David: Hi, Brian. Yes, I run a company out of Norwalk called OperationsInc. We're one of the largest HR consulting practices in the country. We've been keeping an eye on this particular law for a while now because it got delayed in terms of its implementation. All these points are really great. Listen, the biggest issue right now with the companies, most of them, who don't have a human resources professional on staff, really are unaware of their need to comply or even how to comply. It's going to be frustrating for candidates who apply for positions because they're going to find companies that aren't doing what they're supposed to do per the law.

Beyond that, one of the more interesting things is in the post-COVID workplace world. So many companies are hiring people regardless of where they're located because it's not important to have them commute, so they're going to work from home. If you're recruiting and you find candidates are more putting your postings on a site where the candidates could be in New York City, and could work from New York City from their home, that requires you therefore to post that salary range.

Brian Lehrer: I have to leave it there as the last word. Yes, that's an interesting piece of this equation too with remote work. Well, there is day 1 and day 2 reviews of the new salary transparency law. We will continue to cover it of course.

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