Workforce Bulletin

Columbus has joined Toledo, Cincinnati, and a number of states and locales around the country, in banning employers from asking job applicants about their salary history.

Effective March 1, 2024, covered employers in Ohio’s capital will be prohibited from:

• inquiring about an applicant’s salary history,
• screening applicants based on their salary history,
• relying solely on salary history when deciding whether to offer an applicant employment or determining their compensation, and
• retaliating against applicants for not disclosing their salary history.

Salary History

Currently, neither the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) nor the Equal Pay Act (EPA) prohibit employers from screening applicants based on prior salary, requesting an applicant’s salary history, or conditioning an applicant’s employment on providing their salary history. However, salary history bans, which are intended to eliminate the perpetuation of discriminatory pay disparities, have become increasingly common both at the state and local level. As of April 2023, more than 40 states and localities have adopted some form a salary history ban.