Tech:NYC Digest: April 13

Tech:NYC Digest: April 13

April 13, 2022 • Estimated Reading Time: 9 minutes

Wednesday, April 13, 2022 

In today’s digest, suspected subway shooter arrested, public transit mask mandates extended nationwide, and what to know about NYC’s pay transparency law.

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By the numbers:  

  • New positive cases statewide: 6,546

    • New positive cases, NYC: 2,545

  • NYC Positivity Rate: 3.0 percent (+0.2 percent)

  • NYC Hospitalizations: 359 (+11)

  • Statewide Vaccine Progress: 

    • New Yorkers with at least one dose: 89.8 percent

    • New Yorkers who are fully vaccinated: 76.5 percent

In today’s latest:

  • Suspected Sunset Park subway shooter Frank James was identified and arrested by patrol officers today in the East Village. (CNN)

    • And here’s a video of an impromptu street interview with the bodega worker who caught him!

  • The Biden administration will extend the nationwide mask requirement for public transit for two weeks to May 3 as it monitors an uptick in BA.2 COVID-19 cases. (Associated Press)

  • An experimental drug halved the death rate among critically ill COVID patients who were receiving supplemental oxygen and were at high risk for serious lung disease and death, the drug’s developer has announced. (New York Post)

  • A group of researchers in the UK have created a COVID-19 test that could detect even the tiniest amounts of viral antigens as quickly as most at-home rapid antigen tests currently available. (The Daily Beast)

  • And an NFT vending machine has arrived at an ATM in the Financial District. (Axios)

In other reading:

  • COVID-19 ‘superspreading’ can still happen, but now we have the tools to slow it (CNN)

  • Is New York City The New Hub For Food Tech? (Forbes)

  • Swingers crazy golf is coming to New York City (Fast Company)

A new law requiring companies to post salary ranges in job postings goes into effect next month, and given how active the hiring landscape is, there’s a lot to prepare for.

  • Effective May 15, the law requires NYC companies to disclose in “good faith” the minimum and maximum salary ranges on any advertisement for a job, promotion, or transfer opportunity.

  • And they do have to be ranges: open-ended disclosures like “$15 per hour and up” or “maximum $85,000 per year” aren’t compliant with the law.

  • The salary range is meant to disclose base pay and doesn’t need to include benefits, bonuses, stock options, etc., but companies could opt to include more of that information.

  • It applies to all employers with four or more workers and to all positions that can or will be performed in NYC, whether from an office or remotely. It also applies to postings for any remote jobs that could be performed in NYC.

Earlier today, we spoke with Seyfarth Shaw labor and employment practice partner Ephraim J. Pierre and associate Maria Papasevastos about the impacts it will have on tech companies in the city:

  • “Pay transparency is a growing nationwide trend and there is a patchwork of regulations to consider. Employers should carefully review and update their advertisements for jobs, promotions or transfer opportunities to include salary range information based on state and local pay transparency laws, even where it could implicate remote work.”

What we’re watching: Amendments to the law are making their way through the City Council. (THE CITY) Some of the updates include:

  • Delaying the effective date from May 15 to November 1

  • Exempting companies with fewer than 15 employees (instead of fewer than four)

  • Exempting postings that employers say can be done remotely or at another non-NYC location

The law follows similar pay transparency measures in other states: California, Colorado, and Connecticut all have disclosure laws on the books, and Jersey City’s version of the law went into effect today. 

  • In the new world of hybrid and remote work, with employees spread across the country, companies could find it challenging to have a uniform compensation strategy compliant with a multi-state patchwork of regulations.

  • Some business groups also say it could actually make it harder to hire diverse candidates, but proponents warn the amendments could “gut” the measure’s aim to promote equal pay.

However the law settles, Pierre said pay transparency laws will likely require some measure of operational change and long-term strategy from employers:

  • “It's challenging to constantly post accurate salary ranges for advertisements for jobs, promotions or transfer opportunities throughout several jurisdictions, several job classes, or several business units,” he said.

In other reading:

  • The true cost of a bad manager (Quartz)

  • Hating hybrid work? Here’s how to make it less painful. (Washington Post)

  • What all aspiring chief people officers should know (Protocol)

  • Duos, a NYC-based senior care startup, raised $15 million in Series A funding. Imaginary Ventures led the round and was joined by Optum Ventures, as well as insiders Forerunner Ventures, Declaration Partners. (Newswire) 

  • EvolutionIQ, a NYC-based insurance claims platform, raised $21 million in Series A funding. Brewer Lane Ventures led the round and was joined by FirstRound Capital, FirstMark Capital, Foundation Capital, Altai Ventures, Asymmetric Ventures, Reliance Standard Life, New York Life Ventures, Guardian Life, and Sedgwick. (TechCrunch)

  • RentRedi, a NYC-based provider of property management software for landlords, raised $12 million in Series A funding. K1 Investment Management led the round and was joined by TIA ventures, Tribeca Early Stage Partners, and RiverPark Ventures. (Newswire)

  • Socket Supply Co., a NYC-based developer tools company for cloud computing, raised $3.5 million in seed funding. CoinFund and Galaxy Digital co-led the round and were joined by investors including Castle Island Ventures, PeerVC, and 100 Acre Ventures. (FinSMEs)

  • April 21: Virtual: How is the Infrastructure rollout going — and what does it means for tech?, with US Dept. of Commerce assistant secretary Alan Davidson, National Digital Inclusion Alliance executive director Angela Siefer, and others. Hosted by Protocol. Register here.

  • April 21: Virtual: Strategies to Boost Employee Engagement in the Hybrid Workplace, with Bravely coach Costas Theofylaktidis, Owl Labs chief of staff Ben Harman, and others. Hosted by Bravely. Register here.

  • April 21: Virtual: Women In Product: Challenging Gender Inequity in Funding, with Forum Ventures DEI strategist Steph Jones, Calico founder and CEO Kathleen Chan, and Innovatemap growth manager Ashley King. Hosted by Innovatemap. Register here.

  • April 27: Virtual: Solving for the Last Mile, with Veho co-founder and CEO Itamar Zur. Hosted by Savills America. Register here.

  • April 29: Virtual: Creating a Culture of Data Sharing, with NYC chief analytics officers Martha Norrick, NYC Council Technology Committee chair Council Member Jennifer Gutierrez, and others. Hosted by City & State. Register here.

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