In the past year or so, we’ve noticed an increasing legislative trend around the country — governing bodies passing bills to prohibit employers from inquiring about their job applicants’ wage history. The precise details of these efforts naturally vary from locale to locale. Still, whether at the federal, state, or local level, the rationale for these legislative efforts is often the same: they are efforts to close the gender wage gap.
This past August, Massachusetts became the first state in the nation to enact a statewide ban on the practice of employers seeking wage information from their applicants — a practice that many employers currently use as a matter of course in their hiring process. Shortly thereafter, federal legislation seeking similar goals was introduced, and other states have started to get the ball rolling on their own legislation. Cities have also joined the fray, with Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney signing a city ordinance to this effect several months ago.
Effective May 23, 2017 (that’s eight weeks from today, if you’re counting along with me), Philadelphia will become the first city to ban employers from asking about the wage history of job applicants. The provision will take effect as an amendment to the City’s Fair Practices Ordinance and will be enforced by the Philadelphia Commission on Human Relations. Our colleague Steven Ludwig has written an excellent summary of the law’s provisions, which you can find here. Philadelphia employers should check out this information and begin planning (to the extent they have not done so already) to ensure their hiring procedures comply by May 23rd.
Moreover, in your author’s humble opinion, it’s highly likely that similar legislative efforts will continue to spread and gain steam across the country. While the federal government is unlikely to act in the next two years, states and cities are likely to begin the process of following suit. Employers should be mindful of the jurisdictions in which they operate and key tabs on legislative developments in this area that may affect their hiring practices.