Connecticut Joins Growing List of States Banning Salary History Questions

Author: David B. Weisenfeld, XpertHR Legal Editor

May 25, 2018

All Connecticut employers will soon be prohibited from asking job applicants about their salary history under a new law. Effective January 1, 2019, an employer may not inquire or direct a third party to inquire about a prospective employee's wage and salary history.

As is the case with similar laws that have been passed elsewhere, the Connecticut measure aims to reduce the pay gap between men and women for performing the same or similar work.

In Connecticut, it has been found that women are paid on average 82 cents for every dollar paid to men. The gap is even worse for women of color, with African-American women in the state being paid 58 cents and Hispanic women being paid 47 cents for every dollar paid to white, non-Hispanic men.

"Among other causes, this inequality is perpetuated by the practice of asking prospective employees for their salary history before an offer of employment is put on the table," said Governor Dannel Malloy in a statement. "[This] disproportionately ensures that women who are underpaid at their first job continue to be underpaid throughout their careers, creating a cycle and causing harm."

Connecticut's salary history inquiry prohibition will not apply when:

  • A prospective employee voluntarily discloses his or her salary history;
  • Federal or state law specifically authorizes that salary history be disclosed or verified by an employer, employment agency or its employees; or
  • An employer asks about other elements of a job applicant's compensation structure, so long as the employer does not ask about the value of the elements of the compensation structure.

The law provides for a private right of action. Any employer that violates it may subject to compensatory damages, attorney fees and costs, in addition to possible punitive damages and other legal relief. Connecticut is the sixth state to enact a salary history inquiry prohibition during the hiring process, joining: