Refers to the wage rates paid by a significant number of employers in the area or location who employ substantial numbers of workers in the occupation involved.

Consists of an identifiable place in the State, as specified by the Director of Classification and Compensation, on the basis of geographical or other physical boundaries, with reference to the particular occupation involved and to related labor market considerations.

Class (title) or series of classes in the New York State service.

An occupation or occupations having duties and responsibilities substantially the same as those of the occupation or occupations in the State service which become the subject of review under this section of law.

This term in its statutory context is the measure by which rates for a given occupation in private or other nonstate employment in one or more areas of the State exceed the rates for the same occupation in State service. Substantiality here shall be construed to mean a difference in the salaries paid by nonstate employers for a particular occupation in a high rate area, and the salary paid for the same occupation by the State, sufficiently large as to reasonably support a finding by the Director of Classification and Compensation that the State will be at a competitive disadvantage in the employment of qualified persons for positions in the occupation in the high rate area without the authorization of a geographic area pay differential.