When considering best practices in employee relations, employers often overlook their significant legal obligations during the hiring process. Perhaps this lack of focus is not surprising, since a relatively small percentage of employment-related claims arise out of the recruiting stage. By way of example, among charges filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, just 1 out of every 40 arises from the hiring process. See Bases by Issue (Charges Filed with EEOC) FY 2010-FY2018, EEOC. But, particularly for employers in New York City, the failure to implement best practices in recruiting can be a costly oversight due to requirements from several recently-enacted laws. Below, we discuss these relatively recent requirements, and how employers can best structure their hiring practices to comply with their obligations and avoid potential complaints, investigations and litigation.

Salary History

It has long been customary to ask applicants for their current salaries, on a job application, during the interview process, or both. However, in an effort to avoid perpetuating pay inequity, a growing number of jurisdictions across the country have enacted prohibitions on asking applicants about their current salaries. Following this trend, New York City and New York state have both recently passed laws prohibiting employers from asking about an applicant’s salary history or retaliating against an applicant who refuses to provide salary history information. An employer may only consider the applicant’s salary history, and verify such information, if the applicant volunteers it without prompting. See Salary History Law: Frequently Asked Questions, New York City Commission on Human Rights.

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