Westchester County pay transparency law for employers (2026): salary ranges under Chapter 700

Westchester County, New York, requires a salary range in job postings. Section 700.03(a)(9)(i) of the Laws of Westchester County makes it an unlawful discriminatory practice for an employer, employment agency, labor organization or licensing agency to post a job, promotion or transfer opportunity without the minimum and maximum salary it in good faith believes it would pay, for any position that can or will be performed at least partly in the county, including remotely. It took effect November 6, 2022, and a June 2023 amendment extended it to all employers regardless of size and removed a clause that would have ended it once a state law passed. As of November 2026 it is in force alongside New York State's own rule, and the Westchester County Human Rights Commission enforces it.

Where is the Westchester County pay transparency law?

It is in Chapter 700 of the Laws of Westchester County, the county Human Rights Law, at section 700.03(a)(9)(i). The same subdivision also holds the county's own salary history rules in items (ii) to (iv), which bar relying on or asking for a candidate's past wages; the statewide rule on the same topic is in our New York salary history ban guide.

The posting rule came from Local Law Intro No. 119-2022, "A Local Law amending Chapter 700 of the Laws of Westchester County relating to prohibiting employers from posting job listings without minimum and maximum salary information." The Board of Legislators adopted it on May 9, 2022, the County Executive approved it on May 10, 2022, it is recorded as LL-5-2022, and it took effect 180 days after enactment, which the Commission's salary transparency page gives as November 6, 2022.

What did the 2023 amendment change?

Local Law Intro No. 107-2023, "A LOCAL LAW amending Chapter 700 of the Laws of Westchester County to harmonize the County's Human Rights Law and Fair Housing Law with New York State and Federal law," was adopted on June 5, 2023, approved on June 6, 2023, and took effect immediately. Three of its changes reach the posting rule:

• No more size floor. The definition of employer in section 700.02(7) used to mean "any person(s) with at least four persons in their employ." It now reads that the term "shall include all employers except for the County itself." The committee report tied the change to the state Human Rights Law, which "applies to all employers, regardless of the number of employees."
• The sunset clause is gone. The 2022 text said the section "shall be null and void on the day that Statewide legislation goes into effect, incorporating either the same or substantially similar provisions." New York's Labor Law 194-b took effect in September 2023, but the 2023 local law had already deleted that clause, so the county rule did not lapse.
• Clearer remote wording. The 2022 text reached positions "required to be performed, in whole or in part, in Westchester County, whether from an office, in the field, or remotely." It now reaches positions that "can or will be performed" in the county, "or remotely from the employee's home."

Older summaries that describe a four-employee threshold or the null-and-void clause describe the 2022 text. We found no later amendment to section 700.03 in the Board of Legislators' legislation records as of November 2026.

Who is covered?

• Every employer except the County, whatever its size, and any employer that "posts for positions that can or will be performed, in whole or in part, in Westchester County," even if it is based elsewhere.
• Employment agencies, defined as "any person undertaking to procure employees or opportunities to work," labor organizations and licensing agencies.
• Employees and agents of any of those, so a recruiter or hiring manager who writes the post is within the text.

The one exclusion is "a job posting for temporary employment at a temporary help firm" as defined in New York Labor Law section 916(5). The County's own jobs are outside the chapter's definition of employer.

What must a Westchester job posting show?

A posting is "any written or printed communication whether electronic or hard copy, that the employer is recruiting and accepting applications for a specific position." It does not include a "Help Wanted" sign or similar notice on the premises "indicating only generally, without reference to any particular positions, that an employer is accepting applications or hiring." A covered posting needs:

1. A minimum and a maximum salary for the job, promotion or transfer.
2. A good-faith range: it "may extend from the lowest to the highest salary the employer in good faith believes at the time of the posting it would pay."
3. Base pay. The Commission says salary means "the base annual salary, the hourly wage or rate of pay," for example $15 per hour or $75,000 a year. Health insurance, paid time off, stock, overtime, commissions, severance, meals, tips, lodging and retirement plans may be listed but are not required.

Internal promotion and transfer notices are covered because the rule names them. For range-setting and wording, see how to set salary ranges for job postings.

How is it enforced, and what are the penalties?

The Westchester County Human Rights Commission receives, investigates and adjudicates complaints. Under section 700.12, a complaint must be filed within one year of the practice. If the Commission finds a violation after a hearing, section 700.11(h) lets it order the respondent to stop, take affirmative action, undergo training, pay compensatory damages, pay punitive damages for willful, wanton or malicious conduct, and pay costs and attorney's fees, plus:

• a civil penalty of up to $125,000, paid to the County; or
• up to $250,000 where the violation was willful, wanton or malicious.

Section 700.14-a also lets an aggrieved person sue in court within three years instead, and section 700.14 stops the Commission from taking a complaint that is already the subject of a court case or a complaint with the state Division of Human Rights or the EEOC. Unlike New York City's rule, the county text has no first-violation cure. Questions and anonymous tips go to the Commission at (914) 995-9500.

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

Both apply to a Westchester role. Labor Law 194-b(7) says the state rule does not "supersede or preempt any provisions of local law," and since 2023 the county text has no clause that ends it when a state law takes effect. The state rule is summarized in our New York pay transparency guide; the differences:

The county rule is stricter for small employers, with no headcount floor, and in its penalty ceiling; the state rule is stricter on content, because it adds the job description.

What should recruiters and staffing agencies do for Westchester roles?

1. Drop the headcount question for Westchester. A three-person client in White Plains needs a range in its ads under the county law, even though the state law does not reach it.
2. Treat the agency as covered. An agency posting a client's Westchester role is an employment agency under the chapter and needs the range in its own ad.
3. Apply the temp-firm exception narrowly: only to postings for temporary assignments on the firm's own payroll, not to direct-hire searches it runs.
4. Check remote posts. A remote role open to someone working from a Yonkers or New Rochelle home is a county posting. Rules for multistate remote ads are in pay transparency for remote jobs.
5. Add the job description when one exists, for the state rule.
6. Save the dated posting and the client's written range. With a one-year complaint window and a three-year court window, keep both for at least three years.

Agencies covering more of the state should read the New York City and Ithaca guides, and the cross-state comparison in pay transparency for staffing agencies.

A copy-ready Westchester posting block

SALARY BLOCK FOR A WESTCHESTER COUNTY POSTING (example figures; replace them)
Salary range: $62,000 to $71,000 per year (base salary).
This is the range we in good faith believe we would pay for this
position, performed in Westchester County, at the time of posting.

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

Optional, not required by the county law: medical and dental
coverage, paid time off, 401(k) with employer match.

Westchester County pay transparency rules at a glance