Guides
“What is your current salary?”
While this question was a common feature of the interview process, and even expected in years past, it’s now prohibited in many places. An increasing number of state and local governments, such as in Massachusetts, Hawaii, and New York City, have adopted laws that ban employers from requesting salary history information from job applicants. Proponents of these kinds of laws believe that when employers ask prospective employees for their salary history, it perpetuates disparities in pay based on gender and other factors as workers shift from one job to another. Ultimately, the goal of this kind of legislation is to eliminate pay discrimination among women, minorities, and other historically underpaid workers.
Legislation is changing quickly and many states are moving rapidly to respond. To help you understand your local market, we have listed the states and localities that have put such legislation into effect, and two states that has done the opposite. We will update this article as more states and localities pass similar laws, executive orders, and ordinances – so be sure to check back frequently.
States and Localities with Salary History Bans
There are currently 17 state-wide salary history bans (including the commonwealth of Puerto Rico), 17 local bans, 2 laws prohibiting bans, and 1 legal challenge to a ban in the United States.
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State-Wide Bans
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Local Bans
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Bans Against
- Prohibits employers with 15 or more employees located within the city from asking job applicants about their compensation history
- Allows employers to discuss applicants' salary expectations
- Prohibits employers with 15 or more employees located within the city from asking job applicants about their compensation history
- Requires employers to provide a salary scale for a position for which an applicant has been provided a conditional offer of employment
- Prohibits employers from asking job applicants about their compensation history
- Allows employers to confirm applicant's salary only if applicant discloses it in order to negotiate higher wages
* A previous executive order applied to employees of agencies and departments in New York (January 2017)
- Prohibits state departments and agencies from requesting salary history from applicants until after an offer is extended
- Prohibits state departments and agencies from relying on an applicant’s prior salary information, even if that information is already known, unless required by law or is subject to a collective bargaining agreement
- Prohibits employers from requesting prior wages, salaries, or benefits meet minimum or maximum criteria
- Allows employers to verify an applicant's pay history and consider pay history in determining the applicant's salary, benefits, and other compensation if such history is voluntarily disclosed
- Allows employers to request written authorization to confirm pay history of job applicants only after an explanation of the overall compensation package has been made to the applicant
*A previous executive order applied to employees of agencies and offices in New Jersey (February 2018)
- Prohibits state agencies and offices from asking job applicants for their compensation history, or investigating the prior salaries of applicants
*All employers with six or more employees
- Prohibits employers from seeking pay history including benefits and other compensation from job applicants
- Allows employers to discuss applicants' pay expectations
- Allows employers to consider salary history information that is voluntarily disclosed
Read Kansas City's most recent law
*A previous law applied to employees of agencies in Kansas City (July 2018)
- Prohibits city agencies from asking job applicants about their compensation history before hiring them at an agreed-upon salary
- Prohibits employers from asking job applicants about their compensation history
- Allows employers to discuss applicants' pay expectations
*A previous executive order applied to employees of agencies in Illinois (January 2019)
- Prohibits employers from asking job applicants about their compensation history
- Prohibits employers from asking about a job's applicant's salary history until after an offer is negotiated
- Prohibits employers from refusing to hire, interview, promote, or employ a job applicant based on the applicant's decision not to provide salary history
- Prohibits employers from using an applicant's salary history as a factor in determining pay
- Prohibits employers from refusing to hire or retaliating against an employee or applicant for refusing to provide salary history
- Allows employers to rely on salary history information that is voluntarily disclosed in order to offer a higher wage to an applicant than initially offered, so long as that doesn't result in inequitable pay for existing employees
- Prohibits employers from asking about an applicant's salary history unless the applicant has voluntarily disclosed it or if an offer has been extended
- Requires an employer with 15 or more employees to provide the minimum salary for a position to an applicant for which they are applying
- Prohibits employers and employment agencies from asking about a job applicant's compensation history, conducting searches of publicly available records, or otherwise relying on known salary history information to determine pay.
- Prohibits employers from asking about a job applicant's wage or salary history in employment applications, verbal itnerviews, and employment screenings
- Prohibits employers from asking job applicants about their compensation history
*State-wide for employees of agencies in Michigan
- Prohibits state departments and agencies from requesting salary history from applicants
- Prohibits state departments and agencies from relying on previously obtained compensation information in setting pay
- Prohibits city apartments from asking job applicants about their compensation history
*State-wide for employees of agencies and departments in Michigan
This directive appears contradictory to the previous law banning local governments from preventing the salary history question.
- Prohibits state departments and agencies from asking a candidate’s salary history until a conditional offer of employment is extended
- Prohibits state departments and agencies from asking a current or prior employer or searching public records to learn an applicant's current or past salary
- Prohibits state departments and agencies from using salary information that was already known or inadvertently discovered
- Prohibits employers from asking job applicants about their compensation history
- If a candidate volunteers pay history, employers may consider that information when determining salary, benefits, and other compensation elements
- Prohibits employers from asking a candidate's pay history unless it was voluntarily disclosed
*State-wide for employees of agencies in Pennsylvania
- Prohibits employers from asking job applicants about their compensation history
- Requires employers to disclose a position's pay scale and pay range in the job description
- Prohibits employers from asking job applicants about their compensation history
- Prohibits relying on wage history from any current or former employer of the individual to determine the wages for such individual, unless voluntarily disclosed by the prospective employee to support a higher wage than offered by the employer
- Prohibits retaliation against someone for exercising his or high rights under the law, including opposing any act or practice
- Prohibits an employer from refusing to hire or retaliating against an employee or prospective employee based upon prior wage or salary history
- Prohibits employers from asking job applicants about their compensation history
- Allows employers to confirm voluntarily disclosed salary history information after a job offer is made
- Prohibits employers from asking job applicants about their compensation history
- Prohibits employers, including city contractors and subcontractors, from considering current or past salary of an applicant in determining whether to hire them or what salary to offer
- Prohibits disclosing a current or former employee's salary history without that employee's authorization, unless it’s publicly available, required by law, or subject to a collective bargaining agreement
- Prohibits employers from asking job applicants or their previous employers about applicants' compensation history
- Prohibits pay discrimination based on sex if employees are performing comparable job performing comparable job functions or duties that require the same skill, effort or responsibilities under similar working conditions
- Allows a prospective employer to seek or confirm a prospective employee’s wage or salary history after an offer of employment with compensation has been negotiated and made to the prospective employee
- Forbids localities from adopting salary history inquiry bans
- Forbids localities from regulating the information that employers can request, require, or exclude during the hiring process
- Prohibits employers in Louisville/Jefferson County from asking job applicants about their compensation history
- Forbids local governments from prohibiting employers from soliciting the salary history of candidates
- Prohibits city departments from asking job applicants about their compensation history
- Prohibits city employers from asking job applicants about their salary history, even if it is voluntarily disclosed
- Prohibits employers from asking job applicants about their compensation history
- Prohibits employers from relying on the salary history information as a factor in determining whether to offer an applicant employment or what salary to offer
- Allows employers to rely on voluntarily disclosed applicant salary history information in determining an offer
- Requires employers to provide the pay scale for a position to an applicant for employment upon applicant's request
- Prohibits employers from asking job applicants about their compensation history until after an offer is extended
- Prohibits employers from asking job applicants about their salary history and from screening applicants based on past compensation
- Allows an employer’s agent to seek the applicant’s compensation history after an offer of employment has been extended and accepted, for the sole purpose of confirming the applicant’s compensation history
- Prohibits employers from asking job applicants about their compensation history through all stages of the employment process
- Prohibits employers from using an applicant's salary history to set pay, even if the employer is already aware of an applicant's salary history
- Prohibits employers from asking job applicants about their compensation history until after an offer is made
- Prohibits employers from paying employees who perform comparable work different pay rates because of their race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, national origin, marital status, veteran status, disability, or age
- Prohibits employers from using prior compensation to set pay, except for current employees moving to a new position with the same employer
*Entire Commonwealth
- Prohibits employers from asking a candidate’s pay history
- Allows for exceptions to be made regarding applicants' voluntary salary disclosures and pay corroboration that take place after the salary has been negotiated, and the employer has made an offer of employment
- Prohibits pay discrimination based on sex if employees are performing comparable job functions or duties that require the same skill, effort, or responsibilities under similar working conditions
- Prohibits employers from asking a candidate's salary history before hiring them at an agreed-upon salary
- Prohibits employers from relying on wage history in the employment process, unless the applicant volunteers the information
- Prohibits questions about salary history during the application and interview processes for City positions (includes all City departments and employees of City contractors)
Philadelphia is in a state of legal limbo while a judge considers a lawsuit aiming to strike down Philadelphia’s new wage equity law.
The ordinance that is proposed:
- Would prohibit employers from seeking job applicants’ wage and benefits history
*This content is not legal advice. For legal advice, please contact your attorney.
