Alabama
State-wide
Year Effective: Sept. 1, 2019
Covered Employers: All employers
Employers may not refuse any candidate an opportunity for interview, promotion, or employment based on the candidate’s refusal to provide pay history.
View the state law
California
State-wide
Year Effective: Jan. 1, 2018
Covered Employers: All employers, including state and local government
Employers may not seek candidate pay history. Employers may not use candidate pay history to determine pay, even if they already have this information or a candidate has volunteered it. Employers are required to provide pay scale information if candidates request it.
View the state law
San Francisco
Effective Date: July 1, 2018
Covered Employers: All employers, including contractors and subcontractors operating in the city
Employers may not ask for or use a candidate’s current or prior compensation to determine pay. Employers are also banned from disclosing a current or former employee’s salary information without consent.
View the city law
Colorado
State-wide
Year Effective: Jan. 1, 2021
Covered Employers: All employers
Employers may not ask for or use a candidate’s current or prior compensation to determine pay. Employers also may not retaliate against prospective employees who do not disclose their pay history.
View the state law
Connecticut
State-wide
Year Effective: Jan. 1, 2019
Covered Employers: All employers
Employers may not ask about a candidate’s pay history unless the candidate voluntarily discloses it.
View the state law
Delaware
State-wide
Year Effective: Dec. 14, 2017
Covered Employers: All employers and their agents
Employers may not screen candidates based on past salary or ask about salary history. Employers may verify a candidate’s salary after a job offer has been extended and accepted.
View the state law
District of Columbia
District-wide
Year Effective: Nov. 17, 2017
Covered Employers: D.C. government agencies
District government agencies may not ask a candidate for salary history unless it is brought up by the candidate after an offer of employment is extended.
View the directive law
Georgia
City—Atlanta only (currently has no statewide law)
Year Effective: Feb. 18, 2019
Covered Employers: City agencies
The city of Atlanta will not ask for salary history on employment applications, in verbal interviews, or other employment screenings.
View the city press release
Hawaii
State-wide
Year Effective: Jan. 1, 2019
Covered Employers: All employers and their agents
Employers may not ask about candidate salary histories, unless it is an internal candidate. Employers also may not rely on salary history information unless it is volunteered by the candidate.
View the state law
Illinois
State-wide
Year Effective: January 15, 2019, amended September 29, 2019
Covered Employers: All employers and state agencies
State agencies may not ask prospective employees questions about salary history.
All other employers are prohibited from seeking pay history, including benefits. Employers may discuss candidate pay expectations.
View the state law
City—Chicago
Effective Date: April 10, 2018
Covered Employers: City departments
City departments may not ask candidates for salary histories.
View the city executive order
Kentucky
City—Louisville only (currently has no statewide law)
Year Effective: May 17, 2018
Covered Employers: County metro government offices and their agents
City agencies may not ask for candidate salary histories, consider previous salary during the hiring process, or retaliate against applicants who refuse to share salary history information.
View the city law
Louisiana
City—New Orleans only (currently has no statewide law)
Year Effective: January 25, 2017, amended October 1, 2019
Covered Employers: City departments
City departments may not ask for candidate salary histories or use pay history to determine wages or whether to make an offer of employment. Candidates may provide pay history to negotiate a higher salary after an offer is made.
View the city executive order and the amendment
Maine
State-wide
Year Effective: Sept. 17, 2019
Covered Employers: All employers
Employers may not seek information about candidate pay history until after a job offer has been made.
View the state law
Maryland
State-wide
Year Effective: Oct. 1, 2020
Covered Employers: All employers
Employers may not seek candidate pay history, but they may confirm pay history provided by a candidate voluntarily after making an initial offer of employment. Employers must provide candidates with the wage range of the position for which they have applied, if requested.
View the state law
County—Montgomery County
Effective Date: Aug. 14, 2019
Covered Employers: County government
The county may neither seek nor rely on candidate salary history as a factor in determining whether to hire or how to set pay. The county may not retaliate or refuse to hire candidates based on their refusal to disclose salary history. When candidates voluntarily disclose salary history, the county may rely on that information to offer a higher wage than initially offered, as long as it does not result in unequal pay for equal work.
View the county law
Massachusetts
State-wide
Year Effective: July 1, 2018
Covered Employers: All employers, including state and municipal employers.
Employers may not request candidate salary history information. Employers may confirm salary history if volunteered by the candidate or if an offer has been extended.
View the state law
Michigan
State-wide
Year Effective: June 24, 2018
Covered Employers: Private employers
Michigan has prohibited salary history bans. Local governments may not regulate what information employers request or require during the interview or employment process.
View the state law
Amendment Effective Date: Jan. 8, 2019
Covered Employers: State departments
State offices may not ask candidates about salary history until a conditional employment offer is made. They also may not ask current or prior employers or search public records to get salary history. If a candidate’s salary is already known, it can’t be used to make a hiring decision.
View the executive directive
Mississippi
City—Jackson (currently has no statewide ban)
Year Effective: June 13, 2019
Covered Employers: City government
City offices may not ask candidates for salary history.
View an article about the law
Missouri
City—Kansas City (currently has no state-wide ban)
Year Effective: October 31, 2019
Covered Employers: All employers with six or more employees
Employers may not ask or rely on candidate compensation history in determining employment offers. Employers may ask candidates about their pay expectations. The law does not apply to voluntary and unprompted disclosures of salary history information by candidates.
View the city law
City—St. Louis
Effective Date: March 11, 2020
Covered Employers: The city
City offices may not ask about candidate salary history. They may not retaliate or refuse to hire candidates who do not disclose salary history. The law does not apply to internal candidates or those previously employed by the city.
View the city law
New Jersey
State-wide
Year Effective: Jan. 1, 2020
Covered Employers: All employers
Employers may not screen candidates based on their pay history or require a candidate’s previous compensation to meet any minimum or maximum criteria. An employer may verify voluntarily disclosed candidate pay history and may also consider it in determining candidate pay. After making an offer, an employer may request a written authorization from a candidate to confirm pay history.
View the state law
New York
State-wide
Year Effective: January 6, 2020
Covered Employers: All employers
Employers may not seek candidate compensation history. Employers may only confirm compensation history if, after making an offer, a candidate or current employee provides pay history to support a salary higher than the one offered by the employer.
View the state law
City—New York City
Effective Date: Oct. 31, 2017
Employers Affected: All employers and their agents
Employers may not ask about candidate pay or benefits history. Employers already in possession of that information may not use it to set pay.
View the city law
County—Albany County
Effective Date: Dec. 17, 2017
Employers Affected:All employers and employment agencies
Employers may not request candidate salary or benefits history until after a job offer is made.
View the county law
County—Suffolk County
Effective Date: June 30, 2019
Employers Affected: All employers and their agents
Employers may not request candidate salary history. They also may not search public records or use known salary information to set pay.
View the county law
County—Westchester County
Effective Date: July 9, 2018
Employers Affected: All employers and their agents
Employers may not request candidate salary history. Only under limited circumstances may employers confirm prior pay and rely on this information to set pay.
View the county law
North Carolina
State-wide
Year Effective: April 2, 2019
Covered Employers: State agencies
State agencies may not request candidate salary history and may not rely upon previously obtained salary information to set pay.
View the state executive order
Ohio
City—Cincinnati (currently has no state-wide ban)
Year Effective: March 12, 2020
Covered Employers: The city of Cincinnati and all other employers with 15 or more employees located within the city, including employment agencies
Employers may not ask candidates for salary histories and may not rely on known salary histories. Employers also must provide a pay scale for a position to candidates who have been given an offer of employment and ask for this information.
View the city ordinance
City—Toledo
Effective Date: June 25, 2020
Covered Employers: The city of Toledo and all other employers with 15 or more employees, including employment agencies
Employers may not ask for candidate pay history or require a candidate’s compensation to satisfy minimum or maximum criteria. Employers may discuss candidate pay expectations, and job candidates may request a pay scale for the position after being offered employment.
View the city law
Oregon
State-wide
Year Effective: Oct. 6, 2017
Covered Employers: All employers
Employers may not ask about candidate salary history until after an offer of employment is made. Employers also may not use prior compensation to set pay, except for current employees moving to a new position with the same employer.
View the state law
Pennsylvania
State-wide
Year Effective: Sept. 4, 2018
Covered Employers: State agencies
State agencies may not ask about candidate current or previous compensation history during the hiring process. All job postings must list a position's pay scale and pay range.
View the state executive order
City—Philadelphia
Effective Date: February 6, 2020
Covered Employers: All employers
Employers may not ask about candidate wage history or make employment or consideration for an interview conditional upon a candidate complying with wage history inquiries. Employers may not retaliate against a candidate for failing to provide wage history. Employers may not rely on a candidate’s wage history to set wages unless the candidate “knowingly and willingly” discloses the wage history to the employer.
View the city ordinance
City—Pittsburgh
Effective Date: Jan. 30, 2017
Covered Employers: City offices and agencies
City agencies and offices may not ask about a candidate’s prior pay. If they discover it, employers are prohibited from relying on that information unless the applicant has supplied it voluntarily.
View the city law
South Carolina
City—Columbia (currently has no state-wide ban)
Year Effective: August 6, 2019
Covered Employers: City agencies and any employer with five or more employees
City agencies may not seek candidate pay history or rely on pay history to determine wages, unless a candidate voluntarily discloses it.
View the city ordinance
County—Richland County
Effective Date: May 23, 2019
Covered Employers: County offices
County offices will remove the salary history question from employment applications, verbal interviews, and employment screenings.
View the county law
Utah
City—Salt Lake City (currently has no statewide ban)
Year Effective: March 1, 2018
Covered Employers: City offices
City offices may not ask for candidate salary history. If candidates voluntarily provide the information, it still can’t be used to determine salary.
View the city law
Vermont
State-wide
Year Effective: July 2, 2018
Covered Employers: All employers
Employers may not request candidate salary history. If candidates voluntarily provide pay history, employers may only confirm it after making a job offer.
View the state law
Washington
State-wide
Year Effective: July 28, 2019
Covered Employers: All employers
Employers may not seek candidate pay history, but they may confirm it if voluntarily disclosed by the candidate. Employers with 15 or more employees must provide the minimum salary for a position if requested by a candidate who has received an offer for the position.
View the state law
Wisconsin
State-wide
Year Effective: April 18, 2018
Covered Employers: All employers
Local governments may not prohibit employers from asking for candidate salary histories.
View the state law
