Salary History Bans gain momentum in the employment process

A growing number of cities and states are voting on or implementing legislation in favor of a salary history ban during pre-employment screening—prohibiting employers from asking wage history questions to job applicants or considering previous applicant salaries as a determining factor in employment decisions.

Asking for an applicant’s salary history may seem an innocuous enough question; one of many that has been standard pre-employment practice for years. But like criminal history, it may lead to an unintended bias against applicants.

Asking for a person’s salary history can perpetuate pay disparity.

Think of it this way; an employee works diligently for five years—earning incremental pay increases along the way—and now wants to apply that experience to a new position at a much larger company. Unfortunately, the larger company asks for the employee’s salary history before offering the new position instead of simply paying market value. That could easily result in pay disparity because this person made less money at the previous position. If this scenario doesn’t seem fair to you, you are not alone.

We’re keeping an eye on legislative activity.

Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton, (D-DC) and co-sponsors Reps. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), and Jackie Speier (D-CA) have proposed the Pay Equity for All Act of 2017 which would prohibit employers from asking job applicants for their salary history before making a job or salary offer. Many states are also enacting their own legislation to address this issue.

The following states and cities have implemented or are in the process of implementing pay equity legislation including salary history bans:

Massachusetts     New York City     District of Columbia    Philadelphia      Oregon     Iowa    California    Puerto Rico    New Orleans     Connecticut    Delaware    Georgia    Idaho    Illinois    Maryland    Maine    Mississippi    Montana    New York    Texas    New Jersey    North Carolina    Pennsylvania    Vermont    Virginia    Washington    Rhode Island

And, it’s very likely this trend will continue. Please know that as your trusted partner, A-Check is keeping a close eye on this evolving legislation, and remain committed to developing solutions that ensure you have the ability to continue making informed pre-employment decisions.