§ 194-A — Wage or salary history inquiries prohibited

§ 194-a. Wage or salary history inquiries prohibited. 1. No employer\nshall:\n a. rely on the wage or salary history of an applicant in determining\nwhether to offer employment to such individual or in determining the\nwages or salary for such individual.\n b. orally or in writing seek, request, or require the wage or salary\nhistory from an applicant or current employee as a condition to be\ninterviewed, or as a condition of continuing to be considered for an\noffer of employment, or as a condition of employment or promotion.\n c. orally or in writing seek, request, or require the wage or salary\nhistory of an applicant or current employee from a current or former\nemployer, current or former employee, or agent of the applicant or\ncurrent employee's current or former employer, except as provided in\nsubdivision three of this section.\n d. refuse to interview, hire, promote, otherwise employ, or otherwise\nretaliate against an applicant or current employee based upon prior wage\nor salary history.\n e. refuse to interview, hire, promote, otherwise employ, or otherwise\nretaliate against an applicant or current employee because such\napplicant or current employee did not provide wage or salary history in\naccordance with this section.\n f. refuse to interview, hire, promote, otherwise employ, or otherwise\nretaliate against an applicant or current or former employee because the\napplicant or current or former employee filed a complaint with the\ndepartment alleging a violation of this section.\n 2. Nothing in this section shall prevent an applicant or current\nemployee from voluntarily, and without prompting, disclosing or\nverifying wage or salary history, including but not limited to for the\npurposes of negotiating wages or salary.\n 3. An employer may confirm wage or salary history only if at the time\nan offer of employment with compensation is made, the applicant or\ncurrent employee responds to the offer by providing prior wage or salary\ninformation to support a wage or salary higher than offered by the\nemployer.\n 4. For the purposes of this section, "employer" shall include but not\nbe limited to any person, corporation, limited liability company,\nassociation, labor organization, or entity employing any individual in\nany occupation, industry, trade, business or service, or any agent\nthereof. For the purposes of this section, the term "employer" shall\nalso include the state, any political subdivision thereof, any public\nauthority or any other governmental entity or instrumentality thereof,\nand any person, corporation, limited liability company, association or\nentity acting as an employment agent, recruiter, or otherwise connecting\napplicants with employers.\n 5. An applicant or current or former employee aggrieved by a violation\nof this section may bring a civil action for compensation for any\ndamages sustained as a result of such violation on behalf of such\napplicant, employee, or other persons similarly situated in any court of\ncompetent jurisdiction. The court may award injunctive relief as well as\nreasonable attorneys' fees to a plaintiff who prevails in a civil action\nbrought under this paragraph.\n 6. Nothing in this section shall be deemed to diminish the rights,\nprivileges, or remedies of any applicant or current or former employee\nunder any other law or regulation or under any collective bargaining\nagreement or employment contract.\n 7. This section shall not supersede any federal, state or local law\nenacted prior to the effective date of this section that requires the\ndisclosure or verification of salary history information to determine an\nemployee's compensation.\n 8. The department shall conduct a public awareness outreach campaign,\nwhich shall include making information available on its website, and\notherwise informing employers of the provisions of this section.\n