By Danielle Bearden | Human Resources Manager at Lever1
We wanted to bring attention to Kansas City, Mo., City Council passing an ordinance effective Oct. 31st, 2019 that bans private employers with six or more employees from asking job applicants about their salary history.
The ordinance prohibits employers from requesting salary-history information, relying upon it or discriminating against job applicants who do not provide it. Salary history includes current or prior wages, benefits or other compensation. The ban applies to all conversations between employers and applicants and includes searches of public records.
The ordinance, however, does not penalize employers for any voluntary and unprompted disclosures by applicants of their salary history information. The ordinance also does not apply to applicants for internal transfer or promotion within their current employer, applicants who are re-hired by the employer within five years of the applicant’s date of termination from employment where the employer already has past salary information for that applicant, or to positions for which salary or benefits are determined pursuant to procedures established by collective bargaining.
How do we ensure our clients are aware? What are the best steps to take on pre-employment practices?
To comply with the new ordinance, employers should:
- Remove salary questions from any hiring forms, such as job applications, online applications, candidate questionnaires and background check forms
- Update interview and negotiation policies and procedures
- Train hiring managers, recruiters and interviewers on the new provisions
Interviewers need to be aware that this law applies to all conversations with applicants. Employers can discuss an applicant’s salary expectations, but interviewers should be mindful of the law’s restrictions. For example, asking about salary expectations in a way that is intended to solicit salary history information or pressures an applicant to disclose such information could violate the ordinance’s requirements.
And make note- more changes may be coming!!! The U.S. House of Representatives passed the Paycheck Fairness Act on March 27. If the bill is ultimately signed into law, it would prohibit employers nationwide from asking job applicants about their salary history and require them to prove that pay disparities between men and women are job-related.
#themoreyouknow
As the Human Resource Manager, Danielle brings over 10 years of HR experience to the Lever1 team focusing on organization, growth, and Employee Relations. Her knowledge of local, state and federal laws influencing personnel actions helps Lever1 clients maintain the highest level of integrity and confidentiality at all times.