Aimee Delaney Discusses Trend of State and Local Government Bans on Employer Inquiries into Job Candidate Pay History

Aimee Delaney, a Chicago-based partner and leader of the Labor & Employment group at Hinshaw & Culbertson LLP, recently published an article in Illinois Banker titled "Employers Beware: Pay History Ban Is Trend Picking Up Steam." In the article, Delaney explains the increasingly problematic practice of seeking a candidate's pay history in light of lawmakers at both the state and local level seeking to keep employers from obtaining and using pay history information.

Delaney notes that statewide efforts have been taken in Massachusetts and California and lawmakers have proposed bills to regulate how employers obtain and use pay history information in Illinois, Maine, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Washington, D.C. At the local level, Delaney cites the Philadelphia Wage Equity Ordinance and the recently passed bill in New York City which makes it an "unlawful discriminatory practice" for employers to inquire about the salary history of prospective employees and even "prohibits an employer from conducting any form of search through publicly available information." In light of this trend, Delaney cautions employers to pay close attention to developments in all jurisdictions in which they have operations in order to assess how such laws may impact hiring practices.