Hire Image LLC

Effective January 1, 2021:  Colorado employers are prohibited from (1) seeking the wage history of a prospective employee; (2)  Hire Image  relying on the wage history of a prospective employee to determine a wage rate; or (3) discriminating or retaliating against a prospective employee for failing to disclose wage history. The “Equal Pay for Equal Work Act”  Hire Image  also protects against wage discrimination based on sex and includes a pay transparency clause. The state went further, taking their new law to another level, including two requirements that no other state has yet included in similar laws.  First, employers must make reasonable efforts to announce, post, or make known all opportunities for promotion to all current employees on the same calendar day . Additionally, employers must disclose the hourly or salary compensation (or range) and a general description of all benefits and other compensation offered in each posting. Finally, the...

Effective September 1, 2019:  Alabama employers are prohibited from refusing to interview, hire, promote, or employ any applicant, or retaliate against any applicant, because that applicant does not provide a wage history.  Hire Image  background screening specialists report that it’s important to note that, unlike other states, Alabama’s new law does not bar employers from inquiring about salary history, but rather, prohibits retaliation against applicants who refuse to provide such information. This restriction is part of an equity pay law that prohibits employers from paying less for the same work on the basis of gender or race.  Differences in pay for the same work are permitted; however, when based on: (1) seniority, (2) a merit system, (3) a system that measures earnings by the quantity or quality of production, or (4) a differential that is “based on any factor other than sex or race.” For more information about the growing trend of salary h...

The legislative trend banning salary history questions is clearly not going anywhere. In fact, it is quite the opposite. At times, it seems nearly as if it’s an epidemic spreading throughout the country. Through the passage of various state and local laws, an employer’s ability to inquire about a job applicant’s salary history is diminishing at an increasing rate. The trend itself is not new, the pace; however, is.  Starting over three years ago, with Massachusetts and Philadelphia, salary history bans never impacted as many states as they did in 2019. Today, 14 states (and Puerto Rico) and 8 localities have passed salary history bans for private employers, with an astounding 50% of those passed in 2019 alone.  In addition to bans on private employers, 3 states and 10 localities have passed similar legislation for public employers. Some of the laws passed in 2019 are already in effect, including Alabama, Illinois, Maine, Kansas City (MO), Suffolk County (NY), and Wash...

Effective January 1, 2020:  New Jersey employers are prohibited from screening job applicants based on their salary history including, but not limited to, prior wages, salaries, or benefits and from requiring that the applicant’s salary history satisfy any minimum or maximum criteria. However, if an applicant “voluntarily, without employer prompting or coercion” provides the employer with salary history information, an employer may consider that information in determining salary, benefits, and other compensation for an applicant, and may verify the applicant’s salary history.  Additionally, applicants may provide salary history information to an employment agency, which can only be shared with potential employers with the express written consent of the applicant. New Jersey’s salary history law does not apply to: applications for internal transfer or promotion; actions taken by an employer pursuant to any federal law or regulation that expressly requires the disclo...

Effective September 29, 2019:  Illinois employers are prohibited from: (1) screening job applicants by requiring that the wage or salary history of an applicant satisfy minimum or maximum criteria, (2) requesting a wage or salary history as a condition of: being considered for employment, being interviewed, continuing to be considered for an offer of employment, an offer of employment or an offer of compensation, (3) requesting that an applicant disclose wage or salary history as a condition of employment, or (4) seeking the wage or salary history, including benefits or other compensation, of a job applicant from any current or former employer. The Illinois law does not apply if the job applicant’s wage or salary history is a matter of public record or the job applicant is a current employee and is applying for a position with the same current employer. An employer or employment agency may still provide information about the wages, benefits, compensation, or ...