What is your current salary or how much were your previous wages? If an employer did not list a pay scale on their job posting, you might feel surprised to see these questions on an employment application and as if you’ve just been handed an ultimatum. How does one respond to such questions? Is being completely transparent the only option you have? Being upfront could mean handing over your bargaining power.
On the other hand, if you refuse to provide the employer with an amount, you may seem stubborn or unreasonable, which could come at the price of gaining the future position altogether.
For many employees, especially women, disclosing former salary amounts can lead to inequalities in pay, and these wage disparities can then transition from employer to employer. Fortunately, there are “salary history ban” sections of legislation growing across America to safeguard employees.
Salary History Banning Legislation- What is it?
A salary history ban is a piece of legislation, law, or a policy that limits or forbids employers from inquiring about and relying upon a job applicant’s previous salary during the hiring process. Additionally, in many states, it also prevents using such figures when formulating compensation.
California, for example, started passing more meaningful legislation reflecting salary history bans and promoting equal pay since 2017. Then-Governor Jerry Brown signed AB 168 into law, which added a critical piece of legislation (Lab.C. § 432.3) to the California Labor Code.
How does California law protect job seekers from salary history questions?
As discussed above, a frequent example of fundamental and structural biases is when employers depend on previous salaries when hiring and making inevitable compensation decisions.
Lab.C. § 432.3 prohibits employers from requesting preceding salary figures or relying on former salary information when deciding whether to offer a position to an interviewee. The law also goes a step further by protecting employees from their former wages to determine their new salary.
However, the bill does provide employers with minimal exceptions. Employers get a pass in the event the salary history is offered or given voluntarily by the applicant without any questioning or prompting by the employer.
Recap: before, during, and after an interview
So, before heading to your next interview, be aware- you do not need to disclose your prior salary (unless you want to for your own reasoning).
Additionally, California Fair Pay Act Labor Code 1197.5 prohibits employers from relying on preceding salary by itself and justifying any pay disparities.
Another thing to keep in mind is (upon reasonable request of the applicant) the employer is required to provide their pay scale for the position. Lastly, an employer is permitted to inquire about the applicant’s salary or wage expectations.
Employer Responsibility
Many feel there has been a lack of congressional action on overall resolutions for salary history inquiries and wage gaps. Fortunately, 19 states and 20 localities (as of 2020) have established measures to contend with structural bias and address gender wage gaps for their electors (and the list of states and localities is projected to keep growing).
Employers and business owners must stay updated on the growing trend of salary history and inquiry bans and policy, particularly when hiring an employee who resides in a different state with policies reflecting salary history bans. Even if an employer’s business is in a state or locality that does not have such legislation (i.e., salary history bans) or practices, if the applicant or employee resides in a state that does, it falls on the employer to be aware of and comply with such laws.
Have you experienced a labor code violation?
If you feel you’ve experienced a violation of California’s rules on an employer inquiring about your salary history, call to speak with one of our specialized employment lawyers at SANFORD A. KASSEL, A Professional Law Corporation, at 909.884.6451.
