In recent months, legislation has passed that will ban employers from asking interview candidates about their current or previous salary. This new law has already taken effect in several cities and is scheduled for New York later this year.
One of the reasons behind this ban is to increase salary equality amongst men and women. It is thought that women earn 20% less than men carrying out the same job. If the question of pay is not raised in an interview, it’s hoped that any potential salary offers will be based on experience and skills rather than taking previous pay packages in to account. This should mean that in time, the gender pay gap is closed although a few politicians have spoken out in doubting that the ban will solve the issue.
There are of course very contrasting views on this matter. Some believe in pricing the role rather than the individual and others stand by companies who use candidate’s previous salaries to assist in budgeting for their firm and saving money where possible.
Certain firms are concerned that time and resources will be wasted if in an interview, they are not able to ask the candidate about their salary in case the parties do not have matching requirements/expectations. However, the recruiter or employer can include a salary bracket on the job advertisement. In these cases, being banned from asking the interviewees salary may not pose as a problem due to the fact they already know what the company can offer.
One of the main fears is that small or start-up businesses with a lesser budget will lose staff to their wealthier competitors. A new company often uses a candidates previous salary as a way of benchmarking and determining future pay rises. Without the option of finding out current pay, firms starting out could well struggle.
What do you make of the new law? For a more in depth explanation, please have a look at the below articles or speak to your Chase Executive Executive Search recruiter.
http://www.payscale.com/career-news/2017/05/nyc-bans-salary-history-question-interviews
http://money.cnn.com/2017/05/04/news/economy/salary-history-new-york-law/
