The interview questions about salary history have long been a difficult group to handle in the job interview process. While there have always been tips and tricks out there to side-step this landmine of a question, you could never really be sure how best to respond in any given situation.

Answer honestly, and you might get a low-ball offer from the new potential employer. Inflate your salary history, and you risk getting caught in a lie and losing the opportunity all together.

For most people in job search mode, the ban on these types of questions is pretty good news. This new trend is happening as a result of the push to close the gender pay gap, since women still earn on average about, according to the National Women’s Law Center, 20% less than men nationwide for the same job– a gap that hasn’t narrowed much in the last 10 years.

The theory is that salary history questions can lead to lower offers, and inadvertently cause an inescapable cycle of under-compensation.

Laura Kray is a professor of leadership at UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business who studies the role of gender in negotiations. Kray has applauded the new laws, stating they are “a way of ensuring that disadvantages at one point in time don’t have ongoing consequences into future jobs” for women. She predicts they’ll help raise women’s pay relative to similarly qualified men.

Emily Martin, General Counsel at the National Women’s Law Center, says that using past salary as a guide in negotiations, “is another place where unjustified inequities creep in. Women tend to ask for less in negotiations than men, and employers don’t react as well when women negotiate.”

The concept behind these new bans seems to be that employers should set compensation based on labor market data, the candidate’s job experience, qualifications, skills, education, and interview performance – not the candidate’s salary history.

Other experts feel a little less enthusiastic about the new laws, with arguments including:

• The disclosure of salary history could be a legitimate tool used to determine appropriate salary offers
• Revealing salary history could be a potential benefit to the job candidate in negotiations
• Employers’ may have difficulty ensuring reasonable salary expectations between employer and candidate, especially early on in the hiring process

No matter how people feel about it, the general consensus seems to be that the new trend will likely sweep the nation and the salary history job interview questions will soon be a thing of the past.

Oregon is one of the 9 locations in the great U.S. that has banned (in one form or another) inquiries about a candidate’s salary history. Kerry Lear, Director of Portland’s Mammoth HR says, whether or not you or the candidate is in a location that’s already enacted the ban, you should probably go ahead and, “Just take the salary questions off for everyone. We expect other states to be joining along. Employers might as well just get ahead of it.”

Which locations have already enacted a ban?

California:

• Banned private and public employers from asking about a candidate’s pay history.

Delaware:

• Banned all employers from asking candidates about their salary history.

Massachusetts:

• As of July 2018 – all employers are prohibited from inquiring about a candidate’s pay history.

New Orleans:

• Banned inquiries about all city departments and employees.

New York City:

• Banned public and private employers from asking about a candidate’s pay history.

Oregon:

• Banned all employers from inquiring about a candidate’s salary history.

Philadelphia:

• Banned all employers from inquiring about a candidate’s salary history.

Pittsburgh:

• Banned inquiries about all city departments and employees.

Puerto Rico:

• As of March 2018 – all employers are prohibited from inquiring about a candidate’s pay history.

And what exactly is prohibited or permissible in the job interview?

Prohibited:

1. Asking candidates or otherwise directly soliciting information about prior earnings or benefits.
2. Asking current or former employers of the candidate about salary history or benefits.
3. Asking the candidate (or current or former employer) about commissions earned.

Permissible:

1. Asking the candidate about their expectations regarding salary, benefits, and other compensation.
2. Discussing with the candidate any unvested equity or deferred compensation (and its value and structure) that would be forfeited or cancelled by resignation from their current employer.
3. Asking the candidate (and obtaining written documentation) about revenue, sales, and production, books of business, profits generated, or other objective indicators of performance.

Bob Dylan had it right: Times, they are a changin’. I’ll do my best to keep you informed about current trends in resumes, interviews, job searching, and career advancement!