Sorry, Employers: You're Not Getting My Salary History!
I've been an advocate for 'salary-history privacy' for many years. Your past salaries are nobody's business but yours. Your compensation rate at previous jobs should play no part in the process of deciding whether to interview you, whether to hire you or how much to pay you.
When we call the plumber to come over and fix the tub drain, we ask "What's your rate?" We don't ask the plumber "What did your last client pay you?" That's none of our business, and we all recognize that. Why would things work any differently in the salaried-employment realm?
Employers have no reason to require a job-seeker to give up their salary history except for one: they would get that information in order to pay the new employee less than they might if they had no idea what the employee had earned elsewhere.
The state of Massachusetts passed a bill aimed at correcting gender-based pay inequality. Research has shown that not only do women often get paid less than men do for performing the same or similar work, but also that when a woman starts out behind the curve she will have a hard time catching up over time -- in large part because each new employer will pay her only a little more than she was earning at her last job.
How do these employers know what a job applicant was earning before? Easy! They make your past salaries a mandatory field on their job application form. You can't get through their careers portal without filling in your salary details for every job you've held!
Requesting or requiring salary history from a job-seeker is unprofessional, unethical and bad business. It's an invasion of privacy and a form of economic bullying and I am thrilled to see Massachusetts abolishing the practice.
Let's hope that the other 49 U.S. states follow Massachusetts' lead in prohibiting employers from intruding into the personal lives and payroll histories of job applicants. Any hiring manager, recruiter or HR person who can't determine a candidate's value to the firm without knowing his or her past salaries is in need of retraining in their function.
When we all learn to make hiring and compensation decisions without the "inside information" of a candidate's past salaries, we will all be better at our jobs!
In this podcast I defend Massachusetts' new bill preventing employers from requiring salary histories from job applicants.
Jump to the 42-minute mark in the podcast to hear that part of the conversation.
CEO of Rentacomputer.com
7 年As an employer, I always want to consider if the job we are offering is a step up or step down from past positions. Knowing job titles, duties and salary history are key considerations we like to know. Not knowing would provide less data in consideration of the best person for the job. Therefore we are more likely to choose someone who in a few short weeks isn't making enough and then takes another higher paying job (for example). Then the process starts all over with more interviewing, etc. Clearly there is a cost associated with any decision regarding limiting questions that employers may ask. I consider this decision another tax/regulation on my #SMB.
Corporate Financial Systems Manager at Tokio Marine HCC
7 年Appreciate the article. I have also said if the employer is requesting your salary they should be required to post the salary of the job. Employers all ready know the basis and amount of the role/job they are filling, so I agree it should not matter my past salary history. It would be good to see other states adopt the same law.
Quality Production Specialist - Boeing
7 年RIGHT ON! I find any means to avoid this invasive questioning. The trick is to figure out the field requirements and meet that without entering your very personal information. Not only that but I feel strongly that even including high school graduation date and even my complete name provide unintended disclosures that can and will be used against you whether implicitly or not.
Galen D. Erin ? Seasoned Construction Management Professional
7 年Liz, I want to thank you for your Human Workplace moxie. You have really empowered me to stay in alignment with my authenticity, with my exceptional work ethic and with my ability to articulate my truth as a construction manager.