San Francisco's Salary History Ban 'Finally Passes' After Two Rounds Of Votes

Seyfarth Synopsis: San Francisco is likely to be the next jurisdiction to prohibit employers from asking job applicants about wage history. If signed by the Mayor, as expected, the law will go into effect on July 1, 2018 (with attendant penalties to take effect on January 1, 2019).

On July 11, 2017, the Board of Supervisors for the City and County of San Francisco (the "City") passed the "Parity in Pay Ordinance," prohibiting employers from inquiring about a job applicant's salary history.

Several erroneous reports by others indicated that the ordinance passed on June 27, 2017. Supervisors in San Francisco, however, get two bites at the apple before an ordinance is passed. After an ordinance is out of committee, it is presented for a first reading and the supervisors cast their initial vote. Here, the Parity in Pay Ordinance "Passed On First Reading" on June 27, 2017. Thereafter, the ordinance was put up for a second vote at the next Board of Supervisors Meeting 14 days later on July 11, 2017, where it was "Finally Passed." Even after these two hurdles, the ordinance still is not law. The ordinance now needs to be presented to the Mayor for enactment.

What is Forbidden? The ordinance would ban employers, those with contracts with the City, and their agents from considering current or past salary of an applicant in determining whether to hire an applicant or what salary to offer the applicant, and from asking applicants about their current or past salary. The ordinance would also to prohibit disclosing a current or former employee's salary history without that employee's authorization unless the salary history is publicly available.

Changes to the Ordinance

The ordinance has evolved since its initial introduction in April 2017, as discussed here, with the Government Audit and Oversight Committee weighing in on the final version of the ordinance that was presented to the Supervisors for a vote. The following highlights reflect the most significant changes to the revised version of the salary history ban:

The salary history ban covers an application for any type of job for wages, including temporary or seasonal work and commissioned work. The ordinance no longer solely impacts those seeking employment within the geographic boundaries of the City. Now, if the sought after employment will be performed on City property or under contract funded by the City, employers may not ask about the applicant's current or past salary. According to Supervisor...