Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

New law bans California employers from asking applicants their prior salary

m.sfgate.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

11–20 of 680 posts

Re: New law bans California employers from asking applicants their prior salary

#11

Post by Chirael »

pmoriarty wrote: post #4

This is a ban on employers -- afaik, recruiters can still ask (and many probably will ask). But, IANAL. (Correction: It looks like recruiters fall under this prohibition too, if they are acting as agents of the employer.) I personally never answer questions about my previous salary or my expected salary. When HR has given me forms to fill out that have questions about either I just leave them blank, and they've never…

I think recruiters would be covered under the "through an agent" part, especially as most/all are compensated by the employer.

When asked about salary I say that I consider my previous/current employer's salary information to be proprietary & confidential information and I would be violating the agreement I signed when I joined that company to keep such information private, by revealing it.

I basically present it as an ethical issue, and effectively say, "I feel I would be doing something unethical by revealing that information. You're not going to ask me to do something I consider unethical, are you?"

Of course, if they say yes, that tells me something else entirely too, and also something I'd like to know before I start working somewhere.

Re: New law bans California employers from asking applicants their prior salary

#12

Post by briffle »

nicolashahn wrote: post #5
pmoriarty wrote: post #4

This is a ban on employers -- afaik, recruiters can still ask (and many probably will ask). But, IANAL. (Correction: It looks like recruiters fall under this prohibition too, if they are acting as agents of the employer.) I personally never answer questions about my previous salary or my expected salary. When HR has given me forms to fill out that have questions about either I just leave them blank, and they've never…

Kind of off topic but should one always hide their current salary, even if it's above market rate (given their experience on paper)? It seems as though if an employer were only looking to spend so much on a hire, then if you're already likely above that number, wouldn't it save both you and the employer's time? I can see the obvious downside of sharing a relatively low salary, but it seems like there could be benefit…

That same employer could save MUCH more time by posting a salary range in the job posting..

Re: New law bans California employers from asking applicants their prior salary

#13

Post by [deleted] »

pmoriarty wrote: post #4

This is a ban on employers -- afaik, recruiters can still ask (and many probably will ask). But, IANAL. (Correction: It looks like recruiters fall under this prohibition too, if they are acting as agents of the employer.) I personally never answer questions about my previous salary or my expected salary. When HR has given me forms to fill out that have questions about either I just leave them blank, and they've never…

[deleted]

Re: New law bans California employers from asking applicants their prior salary

#15

Post by Stanleyc23 »

sjeanpierre wrote: post #7

definitely a step in the right direction, but employees can still get this info from Equifax and other data providers :-(

"The new bill goes further by prohibiting employers, “orally or in writing, personally or through an agent,” from asking about an applicant’s previous pay."

according to the language in the bill, employers don't seem to be allowed to use those types of Equifax products anymore.

"However, if the applicant “voluntarily and without prompting” provides this information, the employer may use it “in determining the salary for that applicant.”"

...as long as you don't give it out yourself.

Re: New law bans California employers from asking applicants their prior salary

#16

Post by randyrand »

Well... there goes your expectation of an increased salary without negotiation.

And they did this to improve the gender wage gap? People who don't negotiate will be stuck with their same salary year over year, while those that negotiate will have steadily increasing salaries.

Re: New law bans California employers from asking applicants their prior salary

#17

Post by fps »

nicolashahn wrote: post #5
pmoriarty wrote: post #4

This is a ban on employers -- afaik, recruiters can still ask (and many probably will ask). But, IANAL. (Correction: It looks like recruiters fall under this prohibition too, if they are acting as agents of the employer.) I personally never answer questions about my previous salary or my expected salary. When HR has given me forms to fill out that have questions about either I just leave them blank, and they've never…

Kind of off topic but should one always hide their current salary, even if it's above market rate (given their experience on paper)? It seems as though if an employer were only looking to spend so much on a hire, then if you're already likely above that number, wouldn't it save both you and the employer's time? I can see the obvious downside of sharing a relatively low salary, but it seems like there could be benefit…

I've always been upfront and honest about my current salary and expectations. It keeps me from getting lowballed on an offer, and reduces time wasted in talking to employers that can't meet my expected salary. The starting point is what I'm being paid now, plus a bit. Then we can negotiate additional salary, benefits and perks. My salary growth trajectory has been good over my career as a result.

Re: New law bans California employers from asking applicants their prior salary

#18

Post by alexanderstears »

civilian wrote: post #6
chollida1 wrote: post #3

> The goal is to narrow the gender wage gap. If a woman is paid less than a man doing the same job and a new employer bases her pay on her prior salary, gender discrimination can be perpetuated, the bill’s backers say. Hmm, I'd never thought about that angle,but I guess it makes sense. No word on if they are allowed to use Equifax, etc to pull salary data from? EDIT: looking at the bill it looks like querying Equifax…

Equifax has salary data? I hadn't heard that. //edit: Well shit, TIL: https://krebsonsecurity.com/2017/10/equifax-breach-fallout-y...

They do - I'm not sure how they licence it though or what data sources they use but I've seen that their data on high income households is the best in the business and shockingly accurate.

However, I can't imagine the compliance nightmare that would exist around a process that lets HR people look up people's equifax information. If they get a full report, it could contain information about disabilities, national origin, ethnicity, religion, and enough information to construct knowledge about sexual orientation.

However, all that information is pretty worthless for most decisions. Aside from it being illegal to use that information for hiring decisions (in most situations), the equifax stuff isn't super accurate. I've looked myself up and it gets a lot of information wrong, most other people I know who have looked themselves up in have also found major inaccuracies.

Re: New law bans California employers from asking applicants their prior salary

#19

Post by ciro_langone »

nicolashahn wrote: post #5
pmoriarty wrote: post #4

This is a ban on employers -- afaik, recruiters can still ask (and many probably will ask). But, IANAL. (Correction: It looks like recruiters fall under this prohibition too, if they are acting as agents of the employer.) I personally never answer questions about my previous salary or my expected salary. When HR has given me forms to fill out that have questions about either I just leave them blank, and they've never…

Kind of off topic but should one always hide their current salary, even if it's above market rate (given their experience on paper)? It seems as though if an employer were only looking to spend so much on a hire, then if you're already likely above that number, wouldn't it save both you and the employer's time? I can see the obvious downside of sharing a relatively low salary, but it seems like there could be benefit…

No, there isn't, unless you're okay with short-selling yourself.

If you share and your amount is > the employers, you have no job. Bad situation. If you share and your amount is If you offer the number first, the employer becomes the customer - and the customer is always right. If you wait for them to make you an offer, they have to make an offer that is compelling, in the same way sales people go above-and-beyond to close their deal.

Literally the only way sharing your salary first is advantageous is if you need a job immediately. If you can wait, it's best to hold onto your number. If they cared so much about "saving time" they would have put the salary range in the posting - the reason they don't is because it's disadvantageous to do so!

Re: New law bans California employers from asking applicants their prior salary

#20

Post by gfosco »

ryguytilidie wrote: post #8
civilian wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Equifax has salary data? I hadn't heard that. //edit: Well shit, TIL: https://krebsonsecurity.com/2017/10/equifax-breach-fallout-y...

Any time you apply for a credit card or other form of credit, you generally have to give your income.

It's much worse than that... The recent "The Work Number" incident showed they shared access to your entire paycheck history, in detail.
Post reply on HN