Effective January 1, 2019, Hawaii employers are prohibited from asking applicants about their prior compensation history. This law covers a broad range of employers (as long as they have at least one employee in the state, they are subject to the law), as well as employment agencies and agents.
Specifically, employers may not inquire about, nor rely on, an applicant’s “current or prior wage, benefits, or other compensation.” Employers are also prohibited from searching public records or reports to ascertain an applicant’s salary history. However, employers may discuss an applicant’s compensation expectations for the job without violating the law. Employers will also not violate the law if a background check is used to verify an applicant’s disclosure of non-salary-related information and incidentally discloses an applicant’s salary history, as long as the salary history information is not then relied upon to set compensation for the position.
If an applicant voluntarily and “without prompting” discloses his or her salary history, the employer may then verify, and rely upon, that information in setting compensation.
Hawaii’s Salary History law applies to new applicants only and not to current employees seeking advancement.
For more information on these and other laws and whether they affect your state, visit our resource guide at https://www.hireimage.com/background-check-resource-library/
