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Philadelphia Poised to Ban Employers from Asking Hires About Salary History

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Re: Philadelphia Poised to Ban Employers from Asking Hires About Salary History

#111
post #15
post #7

An important detail: Comcast, backed by the local Chamber of Commerce, has threatened to sue the city over this law. On what basis? The corporation's Constitutional First Amendment free speech right to ask the question: http://www.investopedia.com/news/comcast-threatens-sue-city-... Are these the same free speech rights the Supreme Court recently bestowed on the corporations? I remember that at the time legal analyst…

Are all employers corporations? And even as such, this is just outlawing information. I do not understand how so many on the left support such a measure. It's a question -- outlawing questions, especially between private parties in a consensual relationship (applicant and employer), is backwards. You can choose not to answer it; you can lie; you can choose not to work for employers that ask the question in the first…

Do you think the employer should be able to ask about your heritage then? Whether you have any grandparents of ethnicity X? How long ago did your ancestors arrive in the country?

>you can choose not to work for employers that ask the question in the first place

You can choose that, but not everyone can. That's the issue here, most people on HN never even encounter the problem, but they are definitely not the average employee.

Re: Philadelphia Poised to Ban Employers from Asking Hires About Salary History

#112
post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You have a very naive, non-nuanced, and absolutist view of the world. > Actually, this is completely false. You have a pretty good understanding of what they pay employees in similar positions (if you've ever heard of Glassdoor), Are you serious? Do you really think Glassdoor is a legitimate authority for salary at companies? They do zero verification and are mostly dependent on people's honesty. Personally, I've sig…

> You have a very naive, non-nuanced, and absolutist view of the world. Already excited for the personal attacks and logical fallacies which await. > Are you serious? Do you really think Glassdoor is a legitimate authority for salary at companies? They do zero verification and are mostly dependent on people's honesty. Personally, I've signed up for no less than 10 Glassdoor accounts with companies I've never worked f…

HN is toast. Its being overrun by statists/socialists.

Re: Philadelphia Poised to Ban Employers from Asking Hires About Salary History

#113
Might as well change the name of Hacker News to Nanny-Stater News. Seriously, twenty-five years ago, real hackers would be laughing at such silly laws. But now we have a bunch of incompetent leftists who can't do anything unless someone makes a law to protect their sorry asses.

Just say, "I'm not answering that question". It's that freaking simple. You don't need a law. You statists never think of the consequences of such laws.

Re: Philadelphia Poised to Ban Employers from Asking Hires About Salary History

#114
That's too bad. My salary history tells a good story about me, that employers have found me more valuable than average. It's a pretty tangible and direct signal. In an interview it's convenient for them to ask and for me not to have to awkwardly bring it up.

Re: Philadelphia Poised to Ban Employers from Asking Hires About Salary History

#115

Might as well change the name of Hacker News to Nanny-Stater News. Seriously, twenty-five years ago, real hackers would be laughing at such silly laws. But now we have a bunch of incompetent leftists who can't do anything unless someone makes a law to protect their sorry asses. Just say, "I'm not answering that question". It's that freaking simple. You don't need a law. You statists never think of the consequences of…

And then lose out to the majority who either don't see how answering the question could be bad for them or just can't see that not answering is an option...

Re: Philadelphia Poised to Ban Employers from Asking Hires About Salary History

#116
post #69
post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>> > You will always need the job more than Comcast will need you > Where is the evidence for this? It does not require a great deal of imagination to understand that a large corporation and single prospective employee are not equal parties. If you fail to get a job, you will starve. If Comcast fails to hire you, they most clearly will not face an existential crisis. This is most certainly not a free market at work.…

>It does not require a great deal of imagination to understand that a large corporation and single prospective employee are not equal parties. If you fail to get a job, you will starve. If Comcast fails to hire you, they most clearly will not face an existential crisis. Is Comcast the only company hiring people? If you don't get a job with Comcast you get a job with a different company. That is a market, many sellers…

You are missing the point. Companies are offering jobs and thus in a position of power.

Re: Philadelphia Poised to Ban Employers from Asking Hires About Salary History

#117
post #41
post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Probably because there is a very large disparity in power and information. A few points: 1. You will always need the job more than Comcast will need you (unless you're unusually skilled, most workers aren't) 2. Comcast knows how much the pay every one of their employees, you the job seeker do not. 3. Comcast is only asking so they can figure out the lowest pay you'll accept. You have no way to figure out how high the…

> You will always need the job more than Comcast will need you Where is the evidence for this? This is by no means an obvious claim. No one in the world needs "the job," even though most people need "a job." Do companies exist that are more moral/popular/friendly than others? Of course. And some of them are successful in part because people want them to succeed due to their aforementioned characteristics. That is fre…

I feel as though the side with the upper hand in hiring negotiations goes with the tide of the economy/labor market. In my opinion corporations have the advantage in today's market (as indicated by stagnant wages, although this metric may be at a turning point) and it may be suitable to provide protections for job seekers. One could also argue that the opportunity cost of job hunting for an individual is greater than that of a corporation. However, perhaps it is better to ban employers from demanding proof of past salary as opposed to banning employers from asking salary.

Re: Philadelphia Poised to Ban Employers from Asking Hires About Salary History

#118
post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You have a very naive, non-nuanced, and absolutist view of the world. > Actually, this is completely false. You have a pretty good understanding of what they pay employees in similar positions (if you've ever heard of Glassdoor), Are you serious? Do you really think Glassdoor is a legitimate authority for salary at companies? They do zero verification and are mostly dependent on people's honesty. Personally, I've sig…

> You have a very naive, non-nuanced, and absolutist view of the world. Already excited for the personal attacks and logical fallacies which await. > Are you serious? Do you really think Glassdoor is a legitimate authority for salary at companies? They do zero verification and are mostly dependent on people's honesty. Personally, I've signed up for no less than 10 Glassdoor accounts with companies I've never worked f…

>"Sounds like the same argument people made against Wikipedia, which I consider to be a very legitimate source of information on average."

It can not be "legitimate" and "on average".

Re: Philadelphia Poised to Ban Employers from Asking Hires About Salary History

#119
post #59
post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I skipped that step because it leads to the same conclusion. Or do you think a regular person in this country is capable of consulting, contracting, starting a company, etc?

Contracting? Yes... Starting a company? Sure. There sure are a lot of restaurants, food trucks, and dry cleaners out there. Although it's not easy with all the legal barriers to entry created by well-intentioned regulators like yourself :) This is a tangent, but the whole nanny-state ideology advocated by many of the people arguing with me here is the reason people are so dependent on employers instead of having free…

[deleted]

Re: Philadelphia Poised to Ban Employers from Asking Hires About Salary History

#120

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Imagine if media corporations had free speech rights!

They do. When Fox was asked why they lie, their answer was basically free speech.

They are heavily vested in money guiding them in a given direction based on who likes them. On paper they are free speech, in reality, they are tightly bounded where they found themselves, and afraid to threaten the bottom line.
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