Ithaca pay transparency law for employers (2026): City Code 215-3(F) and the state rule

Ithaca, New York, requires a pay range in job ads. Ithaca City Code section 215-3(F), added by Ordinance 2022-03 and in effect since September 1, 2022, makes it an unlawful discriminatory practice for an employer, employment agency, employee or agent to advertise a job, promotion or transfer opportunity without stating the minimum and maximum hourly or salary compensation the employer in good faith believes it would pay. Employers with fewer than four employees whose standard work locations are in the city are exempt, and so are temporary help firm ads for temporary work. As of November 2026 the section is unchanged since 2022, and New York State's own posting law applies on top of it.

Where is Ithaca's pay transparency law?

It is subsection F of section 215-3, "Unlawful discriminatory practices," in Article I (Antidiscrimination) of Chapter 215, Human Rights Protection. The Common Council adopted Ordinance 2022-03, "An Ordinance Amending Chapter 215 of the City of Ithaca Municipal Code Entitled 'Human Rights Protection' in Relation to Unlawful Discriminatory Practices," at its regular meeting on May 4, 2022, and the City Clerk authenticated it on May 5. Section 5 of the ordinance says it "shall take effect on September 1, 2022."

The ordinance did three things: it rewrote the definitions of employee, employer and employment agency in section 215-2, added the posting rule as section 215-3(F), and stated its purpose as fostering "wage transparency in the employer-employee relationship in the city." The eCode360 list of Ithaca laws adopted since the last code update, which includes ordinances and local laws from 2025 and 2026, contains nothing that amends Chapter 215.

Who is covered?

The rule binds "an employment agency, employer, employee or agent thereof." The definitions in section 215-2 decide who that is:

• Employer: "any person, firm, partnership, institution, corporation, or association that employs one or more employees, but not including any such entity with fewer than four employees in its employ."
• The four-employee count is local. Section 215-3(F)(2) says the subsection "does not apply to an employer that employs fewer than four employees whose standard work locations are in the city." A company with three people in Ithaca and hundreds elsewhere is outside the city rule, though not outside the state's.
• Employee excludes anyone whose work qualifies as an independent contractor under New York law, people employed by their parent, spouse or child, and domestic service workers, so those people do not count toward the four.
• Employment agency: "any person undertaking to procure employees or opportunities to work as an employee." There is no size test for agencies in the definition.

The one carve-out for staffing is section 215-3(F)(3): the rule "does not apply to a job advertisement for temporary employment at a temporary help firm" as defined in Labor Law section 916(5), meaning a firm that hires its own employees and assigns them to clients.

What must an Ithaca job ad say?

Section 215-3(F)(1) makes it unlawful "to advertise an opportunity for employment as an employee, including a job, promotion or transfer opportunity without stating the minimum and maximum hourly or salary compensation for such position in such advertisement." The range "may extend from the lowest to the highest hourly or salary compensation the employer in good faith believes at the time of the posting it would pay." So an Ithaca ad needs:

1. a minimum and a maximum, stated as an hourly rate or a salary;
2. figures the employer believes in good faith when the ad goes up;
3. the range on internal promotion and transfer notices as well as outside ads.

Because the rule speaks of employment "as an employee," and the definition of employee leaves out independent contractors, an ad for contractor work appears to fall outside the city text. The ordinance does not define "advertise," does not mention benefits, and does not say how commission-only jobs should be described. Wording that works is shown in salary range job posting examples.

Does it reach remote and hybrid jobs?

The ordinance does not say. Its only location test is the count of employees whose standard work locations are in the city, and it does not limit the posting duty to jobs physically in Ithaca. The careful reading for an employer with four or more Ithaca-based employees is to put a range on any ad for a role that will be based in Ithaca, including hybrid roles, and on remote roles it expects to fill with someone working from the city. The question matters less than it seems: the state law already requires a range for any job performed at least partly in New York.

How is it enforced?

The ordinance does not name a city office to take complaints, and we found no city guidance on the section. The chapter's general enforcement sections apply:

• Private lawsuit. Section 215-9.5(A): anyone aggrieved "may, in addition to the remedies provided by this article, have a cause of action against the violator for money damages and any other remedy available at law."
• Complaints elsewhere. Section 215-9.5(B) lists the Tompkins County Human Rights Commission, the New York State Division of Human Rights, the EEOC and HUD. Those bodies enforce their own laws; the Tompkins County Office of Human Rights describes its role as helping people file complaints with the state Division of Human Rights.
• Criminal fine. Section 215-9.6: "Any individual who violates any of the provisions of this article shall, upon conviction, be punished by a fine not to exceed $500 or imprisonment for not more than 15 days, or both."
• Retaliation. Section 215-9.4 bars retaliating against anyone who opposed a forbidden practice or filed a complaint.

The city ordinance has no cure period. A complaint about the same ad under the state law goes to the New York State Department of Labor.

How does it sit with New York State's Labor Law 194-b?

Ithaca employers follow both. Labor Law 194-b(7) says the state section shall not be construed to "supersede or preempt any provisions of local law." The state rule is summarized in our New York pay transparency guide; the differences that matter in Ithaca are these:

The practical result: the state law covers more employers and asks for more content, while the city adds a local lawsuit route and a criminal penalty. An ad built to the state standard, with a real minimum and maximum and the job description, also meets the city text.

What should recruiters and staffing agencies do for Ithaca roles?

1. Count the client's Ithaca-based staff at intake. Fewer than four people with an Ithaca standard work location takes the client out of the city rule, but not the state rule if it has four or more employees in total.
2. Treat the agency as covered. The city rule names employment agencies and agents, with no size test for agencies. An agency ad for a client's Ithaca role needs the range.
3. Use the temp-firm exception only for temporary assignments on the firm's own payroll. A direct-hire search posted by the same firm is not exempt in Ithaca, and the state exclusion for temporary help firms does not change the city rule.
4. Include promotions and transfers. The rule names job, promotion and transfer opportunities, so an internal notice for an Ithaca role needs the range as well.
5. Keep the dated ad and the client's written range with the requisition. With a private right of action, the record of what the employer believed at posting time is the defense.

Agencies working several New York markets will find the other local laws in our New York City and Westchester County guides, and agency duties across states in pay transparency for staffing agencies. Other New York hiring rules are collected in hiring employees in New York.

A copy-ready Ithaca posting line

PAY LINE FOR AN ITHACA, NY AD (example figures; replace them)
Pay range: $24.00 to $29.50 per hour.
This is the range we in good faith believe we would pay for this
position at the time of posting.

Job description: [paste the existing description here; New York
State Labor Law 194-b requires it if one exists]

INTAKE NOTE
Ithaca-based employees (standard work location in the city): ____
Total employees, all locations: ____
Temporary assignment on our own payroll (temp-firm exception)? Y / N
Client's written range received on: __________

Ithaca pay transparency rules at a glance