Last week Massachusetts become the first US state to take steps
to ban employers from asking applicants about their current salary
during the interview process. This legislation is being introduced
to tackle the gender pay gap within the state. At present, women in
Massachusetts are paid 82 cents for every dollar earned by their
male counterparts. Given that women traditionally earn less than
men, women are arguably likely to start off on lower salaries.
Companies therefore seek to benefit from this imbalance by asking
about current salary levels – let's face it, what company
would pay more than they need to in order to get their chosen
candidate?
The law, which is due to take effect on 1 July 2018, also
provides that companies can no longer ban employees from discussing
their salaries. Whilst it is unlikely that HR will tell women in
Massachusetts how much 'John from accounts' is earning in
comparison to themselves given confidentiality and data protection
issues,
