You can ask job candidates a plethora of questions, but there’s one we strongly recommend you avoid: “How much money did you/do you make?”
There’s no harm in asking why a candidate wants to work with your company, what motivates them, or how knowledgeable they are with certain computer applications, but lawmakers nationwide are pushing for a Salary History Ban.
The Salary History Ban is NOT active in Arizona yet, but Focus HR, Inc. recommends you cut salary history questions from your pre-employment processes to avoid wage discrimination and gender pay gaps.
Best practice: Focus on the Candidate’s Work Experience, Proof of Job Performance, and other Market Factors.
Five Things a Person’s Salary History Says (or Doesn’t Say!) :
- It can tell you how much they got paid at each job they’ve previously held.
- It does NOT convey their worth to a new employer in a new role. There are many reasons a person may take a job below their capability and market value. Every assignment is different and the level of pain will differ from organization to the next.
- It does NOT tell you how good they are at their job.
- It does NOT convey their passion, enthusiasm, or team mentality.
- Salary history is useless as a gauge of someone’s talent. There are overpaid and underpaid people everywhere.
We Recommend You:
- Remove questions from print and online applications that request any kind of compensation history.
- Train your hiring managers to stop asking questions about previous pay. This includes questions about commissions and, in some cases, benefits. Hiring managers should, instead, ask about a candidate’s earning expectations.
- Create a salary range for each position in your organization. Variations should be based on education, merit, and previous work experience.
To get expert advice on your company’s hiring practices click here.
