New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has signed legislation requiring the New York State Department of State and the Department of Taxation and Finance to conduct a study on the number of women directors who serve on each board of directors of domestic and foreign companies authorized to do business in New York.
“From new pay equity laws to strongest-in-the-nation sexual harassment policies, New York is leading the fight for gender equality in the workplace, but our work won’t be done until women are better represented at the highest levels of organizations,” Cuomo said. “This new study will help shed light on the problem and guide the development of new policies to ensure more women have a seat at the proverbial table.”
The legislation, signed by Cuomo on Monday, requires the study include the number of women directors, total number of directors that constitute boards of directors, analysis of the change in number of women directors from previous years, and the aggregate percentage of women directors on all boards.
“Women’s lack of representation in the boardroom is a persistent problem that has far-reaching implications for employees and consumers,” said State Senator Liz Krueger. “Among other things, data shows that companies with less than three women on their board perform worse financially.”
“New York is home to some of the world’s largest and most influential corporations, so what we do here reverberates far beyond our borders,” Krueger added. “This bill takes an important step toward getting the information we need to bring this problem into the light.”
The legislation will take effect in 180 days. The study will be published no later than Feb. 1, 2022.
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