In our fourth “CRAsh Course” blog entry, we examine salary history bans, the latest trend in fair chance employment legislation.

Addressing Pay Disparity to Minimize “Prisoner of the Past” Impact on Applicants

Many states and municipalities have already enacted (or are considering) laws prohibiting the request of salary information during both the screening process and while making employment compensation decisions.

These newest regulations follow the trend of post-recession restrictions being placed on screening processes. And, much like ban the box laws and limits placed on the use of credit reports, salary history bans are designed to offer applicants greater potential for fair employment.

Ensuring Competitive Pay

In the past, employers typically offered a slight increase in pay over a previous job to make the overall employment package more enticing. However, those advocating for current salary ban laws argue this practice potentially locks workers in a low-wage cycle if they were underpaid by previous employers. Worse than that, in the event lower pay was from some form of discrimination, the effects of the original discriminatory practice would continue.

Keep in mind, while these laws may help employees and applicants, employers will need to pay particular attention to their recruiting and hiring practices. Beyond potential litigation for continuing unlawful salary requests, regulators in states with salary history bans in place may also be able to use the power these laws grant to quickly identify discrimination and bring charges against employers.

A-Check Global, Your Trusted Partner

A-Check Global is already out in front of this evolving legislation. To ensure that both we and our clients maintain compliance with these laws, we no longer request or collect salary information when conducting employment verifications. Additionally, we ensure that supplemental documents used by A-Check to verify employment are not visible to clients.

While we can certainly assist you in remaining compliant, there are important steps that should also be part of your organization’s employment decision efforts. We suggest you consider the following:

1. Update your applications; remove any request for salary history information.
2. When requesting information on employment history, request only dates, title, and other relevant non-salary information.
3. Update your interview questions/processes; if asking “how much you’re currently making” is part of your interview questionnaire, it should be removed.
4. Know position pay scales going in, as some salary history ban laws require employers to disclose pay to an applicant when they ask. Interviewers should know the position’s pay scale before the interview.
5. As always, discuss with your legal team all processes and procedures your company should have in place, and enact policies based on their feedback.

For more information about this topic, or to request any information on Consumer Reports feel free to contact us at connect@acheckglobal.com.