Philly Employers No Longer Able to Ask for Wage History
As a means of attempting to narrow the wage gap for women and minorities, employers in the city of Philadelphia will soon be barred from asking for an applicant’s wage history when hiring. The story broke on the National Law Review yesterday, but the vote to pass the new ordinance took place on December 8th. The City Council unanimously passed the bill, and Mayor Jim Kenney has expressed support for it as well. It’s expected that the bill will pass into law 120 days after it is signed by the mayor.
Philadelphia employers will soon be barred from asking prospective employees for their wage history, in a move intended to narrow the pay gap for women and minorities.
The bill was sponsored by Councilman Bill Greenlee as an amendment to the Philadelphia Fair Practices Ordinance that would bar employers from asking potential hires about their wage history at any point in the application process. It has been shown that, when employees are forced to disclose their past salaries, they largely make less money at their new jobs than they would otherwise. Philadelphia will become the first city in the United States to pass such a measure. The state of Massachusetts passed an influential wage gap law earlier this year that is credited with inspiring the Philadelphia ordinance.
The wage history bill was badly needed because the wage gap is alive and well in the City of Brotherly Love. According to the National Law Review article by Paul Lancaster Adams: “the U.S. Census Bureau found, in 2015, that women in Pennsylvania earn 79 cents for every dollar earned by a man, which amounts to a median annual wage gap of $10,507. According to the Census Bureau, among minorities, African-American women are paid 68 cents, Latinas are paid 56 cents, and Asian women are paid 81 cents for every dollar paid to men.” Clearly a change is needed.
Employers who violate the new law will be subject to punishment by the Philadelphia Commission on Human Relations, which can include fines, remediation paid to the prospective employee who made the complaint, and possible court costs.
