Equal Pay Update: Where Are Salary History Questions Illegal?

Lawmakers nationwide are looking to make salary history questions, well, history.
 

Ever since the Equal Pay Act was passed in 1963, it has been unlawful in the United States for businesses to pay men and women different wages due to their sex. Even with that landmark law, disparities persist—last year, women earned only 80 cents for every dollar earned by men. The gap is even greater when the wages of minority women and white men are compared.
 

Partly inspired by the “ban the box” movement, which curbs job recruiters’ access to criminal history, legislators are tackling pay disparities early on in the employee lifecycle: the job interview. Believing that asking for salary history only perpetuates past disparities, equal pay advocates are looking to stomp out the question entirely.
 

Below you’ll find a break down of what states and cities have taken a stand for those on the wrong side of the pay gap.

State Laws

City and County Ordinances

Salary history bans represent just a small part of what HR and compliance teams need to be mindful of. Once you’ve mastered recruiting rules, the next major hurdle in the employee life cycle is onboarding.
 

From confirming that a new hire is actually authorized to work in the U.S., to getting him or her set up in payroll, “day one” poses its own unique challenges. We’ve put together everything you need to successfully onboard employees in our free Employee Onboarding Toolkit.