As cities and states begin banning employers from asking employment candidates about prior salary history, how do you intend to handle this question?
Like the BOX, do we Ban the $$$?
More and more cities are considering legislation and, of great importance, Congress is now entertaining legislation on this issue. What we know:
- Massachusetts has enacted its law
- New Jersey is considering similar legislation
- New York is considering similar legislation
- California (2nd attempt) is considering similar legislation
- Congress is considering national legislation
POEknows tends to recommend that our clients be proactive in issues such as this, as we were, about the Ban the Box issue, and initiate a change in the application and screening process, now, rather than waiting for this to become law in each jurisdiction in which you operate. And we think we would all be wise to consider the sentiment of SHRM, which, while not recommending changes at this point, has presented articles and comments on this ‘salary history question’ that state, “…if momentum for more legislation and resistance to salary questions among applicants grow, employers may soon have no choice but to get used to it”. Another SHRM article mentions, “Historical pay discrimination is perpetuated when past pay sets future pay”.
POEknows believes this may become the new ‘class action darling’ of plaintiff attorneys. We recommend that our clients remove the question of past and current job pay from your Employment Application and from your screening process.
Our magnificent clients should advise if you want POEknows to remove the salary/compensation question from our verbal and written requests for employment verification.