As POEknows reported in our Newsletter of April 3, 2017 and in our blog, Click Here to read, cities and states have begun banning employers from asking employment candidates about prior salary history.
The State of Massachusetts, has enacted its law.
Rhode Island law prohibits employers from requesting an applicant to provide a W-2 tax form, to verify salary history.
Philadelphia’s wage history ordinance, which bans salary history questions, goes into effect on May 23, 2017, but is being challenged by the Chamber of Commerce for Greater Philadelphia.
And, since we reported on this issue, the New York City Council passed its bill, on April 5, 2017, restricting employers’ ability to ask job applicants about their salary and compensation history. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio has publicly supported the bill, is expected to sign this bill and it will take effect 6 months after he has signed it.
New Jersey, California, Puerto Rico and Congress are considering similar legislation.
Long ago, as Ban the Box snow-balled across the nation, POEknows recommended that our clients Ban the Box, even in jurisdictions where it was not yet law.
POEknows believes that our clients should stop inquiries about salary and compensation, now, rather than waiting for this to become law in each jurisdiction in which you operate. We believe the potential problems of continuing these inquiries outweigh the benefits and we recommend that our clients prepare for this latest prohibition.
Accordingly, like Ban the Box, POEknows recommends that our clients Ban the Bucks, and eliminate verbal and print inquiries about salary and compensation, from your Employment Application and from your application screening process. And, if a current or prior employer is unable to provide verification of job history, during our interview with the prospective employee, POEknows can ask the applicant to provide, to our office only, a copy of a W-2, 1099, tax return or other financial record proving the applicant was employed or contracted by that employer. We can then, provide verification of that employment history, to our client, and we will not forward the financial information to our client.
Our office is continuing to reach out to our clients, to ask if you want POEknows to remove the salary/compensation question from our verbal and written requests for employment verification, during our processing of your prospective employee applications.
We will keep our marvelous clients informed, as this issue continues its growth.