Salary disclosure bans in states

Recent enforcement by the EEOC that resulted in litigation against employers who paid male workers higher wages than female employees working in the same or similar position highlights the need for employers to be aware of salary in the hiring process.

Employers are banned from asking questions during the recruiting process relating to salary history in many states, and hundreds of individual cities and counties throughout the country. Your state may not have a salary history bans but the county or city where the employer operates could without the knowledge of Human Resources. The salary ban exists in Alabama, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin.

With the rapidly changing landscape of salary bans, it is important for employers be aware that your city or state could be next and to notify their background vendor that information relating to salary must not be reported. Failure to do so could result in civil penalties.