An act to amend the labor law, in relation to the convening of a human services employee wage board to inquire into, report on, and recommend adequate minimum wages for human services employees.
 

Human services workers are essential to the State and localities' ability to.assist New Yorkers confronting a range of social challenges. To achieve cost savings, government has transferred most legally mandated human services for New Yorkers to nonprofits and in turn have created massive pay disparities within the field.  Government is not just the predominant funder of human services in New York, it is also the main driver of human services salaries as it directly sets salary rates pn contracts or does so indirectly by establishing costs for a unit or service, along with required staffing on a contract. Nonprofits contracted to provide human services are not only provided insufficient funding to pay their employees, but are met with chronic delays in payment, underfunding, and a lack of sincere collaboration to create meaningful and lasting interventions. 

Salaries within the social work profession have been an issue since the professions’ inception. In May 2022, at the request of Senator Persaud, the National Association of Social Workers, New York State Chapter (NASW-NYS) created a survey to examine the prevalence of social worker salary inequities in New York State. Universally, social workers across all demographics assert that salaries are low and not comparable to the work and skill set required to serve clients and program users. One of the core issues of low salaries for master-level social workers is grounded in compensation for the scope of practice. As the skill level of social workers increase, our research has shown that salaries stay stagnant. Furthermore, there are stark differences in salaries when comparing White social workers and social workers of Color. On average, social workers of Color are paid less and have higher student loan debt. In the 2022 Social Work Salary Analysis Report, conducted by NASW-NYS, it was found that within individuals in the higher earning range of $60,000 to $70,000 a year, 16.3% identified as white, 6% identified as people of color, and 3.8% identified as Hispanic. Additionally, findings from three years of surveys of new Social Workers, a report released by the Council of Social Work Education, revealed that the average total debt for all higher education was $92,000 for Black or African Americans and $79,000 for Hispanics, compared to only $45,000 for whites (Salsberg et al., 2020).

All New York State social workers must be equitably compensated for the work and services they provide. Less than 10% of respondents in the NASW-NYS study reported receiving a yearly merit increase; and an even smaller percentage of social workers reported receiving a one-time merit raise or promotion. If social workers do not receive salary upgrades, there is a potential that they will leave the profession for a more equitable field. To recruit and retain talented social workers, salaries must be comparable to the training, licensure, and job responsibilities of each position. In the words of New York State social workers:
“Our profession is one that is here to help people, regardless of what is going on in the world, and we do this knowing that the pay is not comparable to the time, energy, and commitment we put into our work.”
“Everyone deserves to have access to a ‘livable’ wage; We, social workers, need to advocate for ourselves so that we can be an advocate for others.”