A number of jurisdictions across the country have enacted laws that prohibit employers from seeking information from job applicants relating to their past salaries or wages. Philadelphia, Oregon, New York City, Delaware, Massachusetts, and Puerto Rico have already passed such laws, while Pennsylvania, California, North Carolina and Illinois have similar bills under consideration.

New Jersey is the latest state seeking to enact this kind of legislation, as recently discussed by the National Law Review. New Jersey's Law Against Discrimination would be amended to prohibit employers from "(1) screening a job applicant based on the applicant's wage history, including by requiring that an applicant's prior wages, salaries or benefits satisfy any minimum or maximum criteria, or (2) relying on an applicant's salary to determine a salary amount for the applicant at any stage in the hiring process, including finalizing an employment contract." The bill would also prevent employers from asking about an applicant's wage history, or prior compensation and benefits, unless the applicant voluntarily, and without employer coercion, provides the employer with written authorization to do so.

The field of employment law is constantly changing, and new bills are under consideration constantly, which change not only an employee's rights, but the employer's responsibilities. For example, the Philadelphia wage history law referenced above, has been temporarily halted through a preliminary injunction as a result of a lawsuit filed by the Chamber of Commerce for Greater Philadelphia.

If you have questions with regards to your rights or responsibilities in the arena of employment law, we have the answers. Contact the Law Offices of Kent Petry, today!