California Legislature Approves Ban on Asking Applicants About Past Salary

California may soon be joining the many states that have now prohibited employers from inquiring about past salary history. In the article, "California Legislature Approves Ban on Asking Applicants About Past Salary," featured in SHRM, Of Counsel Benjamin Ebbink discusses the possibility of Governor Jerry Brown signing A.B. 168 into law.

Whether he will sign or not is difficult to predict, said Ebbink. "On the one hand, Brown vetoed a similar bill in 2015 because he said he wanted to give the then-newly enacted amendments to California's equal pay law time to work. On the other hand, this is a popular trend in legislation. You've got other states and municipalities passing these laws, and I could see the governor being responsive to wanting to keep up with other states on this issue."

"Even if A.B. 168 is vetoed this year, it's not going away," Ebbink said. "I'm sure it will appear again next year."

To read the full article, please visit SHRM.