A number of states (including Oregon and Washington), counties, and cities have enacted pay-parity laws which usually, among other things, prohibit employers from requesting or relying upon the pay history of applicants or employees.
A third of the states now have laws prohibiting or restricting an employer’s use of pay history, though a few apply only to state employers: Alabama, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Vermont, and Washington.
Several cities and counties have similar bans or restrictions, though in most cases, they apply only to city/county agencies. These include San Francisco, California; Atlanta, Georgia; Chicago, Illinois; Louisville, Kentucky; New Orleans, Louisiana; Montgomery County, Maryland; Jackson, Mississippi; Kansas City, Missouri; New York City and Albany, Suffolk, and Westchester counties in New York; Cincinnati and Toledo, Ohio; Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Richland County and Columbia, South Carolina; and Salt Lake City, Utah.
Details of these laws vary quite a bit from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. In some cases, information about past pay rates cannot be used at all. In other places, employers are not permitted to ask, but they can use the information if it is volunteered.
These laws and ordinances are typically enacted along with a host of other requirements designed to stop discrimination in compensation (wages, salary, benefits and any other type of compensation) on the basis of gender, race and other protected categories.
Many jurisdictions have transparency laws prohibiting employers from banning their employees from sharing information about their compensation. These include California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Vermont, Washington, and Washington D.C.
The National Labor Relations Act, which protects many employees in the private sector, gives those employees the right to engage in “concerted activities for the purpose of collective bargaining or other mutual aid or protection.” This means, among other things, that employees must be permitted to discuss working conditions, including compensation.
All federal contractors are covered by a similar rule through an executive order.
In addition, many pay-equity laws prohibit employers from paying employees unequally for “comparable” or “similar” work. Jurisdictions with these laws include California, Colorado, Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Puerto Rico, Vermont, and Washington.
Whether you are an employee or an employer, please feel free to contact us if you have any questions about pay-equity or other employment issues.
Photo by Alexander Mils on Unsplash
