The Single Biggest Step to Pay Equity? Stop Asking About Salary History | LinkedIn Talent Blog

Pay equity– compensating employees the same when they perform the same or similar job duties while accounting for other factors, such as their experience level, job performance, and tenure with the employer (SHRM)–continues to be a priority for many organizations. And as this topic becomes increasingly important, many HR and Total Rewards leaders are reviewing their organization’s compensation policies and practices to achieve greater pay equity. This article highlights a new research study conducted by Boston University’s School of Law that suggests that pay equity can be accelerated by banning salary history questions when interviewing candidates. The study found that “in states where salary history bans have been enacted, pay for those who switched jobs increased, on average, 5% to 6% more than for those who changed jobs in other states. But the boost was even larger for African Americans, who received increases that were 13% to 16% higher, and for women, who received bumps that were 8% to 9% higher. As noted in the article, even if your company does business in a state or country that still allows questions about salary history, consider dropping them and, instead, share your salary ranges. In case you missed it, you can see three of my recent posts on pay transparency–a practice that enables pay equity.