Employment Regulators: No Job Experience Necessary

In New York City, as part of an effort by the city council to “narrow the gender pay gap,” a new bill proposes to forbid employers from asking potential hires about their salary history. According to a report from the office of Public Advocate Letitia James, the bill's prime sponsor, “the common practice of employers' use of prior salary history to determine employee pay perpetuates the existing wage inequities women face.” According to this argument, salary-history inquiries trap women, who are already victims of discriminatory pay practices, in a vicious cycle of systemic wage theft. New York City joins Massachusetts and Philadelphia as the first jurisdictions to enact laws against this practice; there are plans to introduce similar legislation at the federal level.