Governor to Push for Salary History Ban to Close the Gender Wage Gap

April 20th, 2018

Last Tuesday Gov. Cuomo announce that he has proposed legislation to prohibit all employers, public and private, who do business in New York State, from asking prospective employees about their salary history and compensation.

Unshackle Upstate has opposed proposals of this nature in the past. While they are well-intended, they represent yet another burdensome state mandate on private employers.

And it’s not clear whether this new prohibition will address the gender wage gap. We see this proposal as yet another feel good ‘policy solution’ from Albany lawmakers that is unlikely to have any positive real world benefits but could be harmful to employers, especially small businesses and entities that do not have human resources departments.