As of August 12, 2026, eighteen states plus Washington, D.C. have a statewide law that restricts employers from asking job applicants about their pay history, relying on it to set an offer, or both. California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, and the District of Columbia are on that list, and Virginia’s law takes effect July 1, 2026. Two more states, North Carolina and Pennsylvania, restrict the practice only for state government employers through executive order, not for private businesses statewide. If you hire across multiple states, the safest baseline is to stop asking about pay history everywhere and build your offer process around the role’s budgeted range instead.
This guide gives you a table you can actually rely on: every state law verified directly against the official legislature or state labor department text, not pulled from an aggregator list. It also explains where salary history bans stop and employment verification starts, since those are two different things that get confused constantly, and it covers the pay transparency laws that are quickly becoming the bigger compliance issue for anyone posting jobs in these states.
What a salary history ban actually restricts
A salary history ban is a state law that limits what an employer can ask a job applicant, or a former employer, about the applicant’s prior compensation, and in most states it also limits whether the employer can use that information to decide whether to hire someone or what to pay them. The exact wording varies by state, but the pattern is consistent across the laws below: no inquiring, no requiring pay history to meet a minimum or maximum, and no basing an offer on what the person made before. Most of these laws include one common exception, an applicant who voluntarily discloses their own pay history without being asked can usually have that information verified or considered.
Verified statewide salary history ban states (as of August 12, 2026)
Every row below was checked directly against the state’s official statute text on the state legislature’s own site or the state labor department’s site. Some states with well known local ordinances, such as city-level bans in places like New York City or Philadelphia, are not included here because this table covers statewide law only.
| State | Citation | Effective | What it prohibits | Official source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| California | Cal. Lab. Code §432.3 | Jan 1, 2018 (amended eff. Jan 1, 2026) | Seeking or relying on salary history; 15+ employee employers must post pay scale in job listings | leginfo.legislature.ca.gov |
| Colorado | C.R.S. §8-5-102 (Equal Pay for Equal Work Act) | Jan 1, 2021 | Seeking or relying on wage rate history | content.leg.colorado.gov |
| Connecticut | Conn. Gen. Stat. §31-40z(b)(5) | Jan 1, 2019 | Inquiring or directing a third party to inquire about wage and salary history unless voluntarily disclosed | cga.ct.gov |
| Delaware | 19 Del. C. §709B | 2017 (81 Del. Laws c.41) | Screening applicants on compensation history; seeking compensation history from the applicant or a prior employer | delcode.delaware.gov |
| Hawaii | HRS §378-2.4 | 2018 (Act 108) | Inquiring about or relying on salary history to set compensation | capitol.hawaii.gov |
| Illinois | 820 ILCS 112/10 | Sept 29, 2019 | Screening on or requesting salary history as a condition of consideration | ilga.gov |
| Maine | 26 M.R.S. §628-A | 2019 (PL 2019, c.35) | Using or inquiring about compensation history before an offer with compensation terms is made | legislature.maine.gov |
| Maryland | Md. Code, Lab. & Empl. §3-304.2 | 2020, amended eff. Oct 1, 2024 | Relying on wage history to screen or consider an applicant; requires wage range disclosure | mgaleg.maryland.gov |
| Massachusetts | M.G.L. c.149 §105A | Jul 1, 2018 | Seeking wage or salary history from the applicant or a prior employer | malegislature.gov |
| Nevada | NRS 613.133 | 2021 | Seeking or relying on wage or salary history | leg.state.nv.us |
| New Jersey | N.J.S.A. 34:6B-20 (P.L. 2019, c.199) | Jan 1, 2020 | Screening applicants based on salary history | pub.njleg.gov |
| New York | N.Y. Lab. Law §194-a | Jan 6, 2020 | Relying on or seeking wage or salary history | nysenate.gov |
| Oregon | ORS 659A.357 | Oct 6, 2017 | Seeking salary history from an applicant or a current or former employer | oregonlegislature.gov |
| Rhode Island | R.I. Gen. Laws §28-6-22 | Jan 1, 2023 | Relying on or seeking wage history; requires wage range disclosure | webserver.rilegislature.gov |
| Vermont | 21 V.S.A. §495m | Jul 1, 2018 | Inquiring about or seeking current or past compensation before an offer is made | legislature.vermont.gov |
| Virginia | Va. Code §40.1-28.7:12 | Jul 1, 2026 | Seeking wage or salary history from the applicant, a prior employer, or a third party; requires pay range in job postings | doli.virginia.gov |
| Washington | RCW 49.58.100 | 2019 | Seeking wage or salary history from the applicant or a current or former employer | app.leg.wa.gov |
| Washington, D.C. | D.C. Code §32-1452 | Mar 5, 2024 | Seeking wage history from a prior employer; screening on wage history | code.dccouncil.gov |
Two states restrict pay history questions for state government employers only, through executive order rather than a statewide private-sector statute: North Carolina (Executive Order No. 93) and Pennsylvania (Executive Order 2018-03). Those orders bind state agencies, not private employers, so they are left out of the table above to keep it accurate. If a state you operate in is not listed, that means no verified statewide statute restricting salary history questions for private employers was found as of this table’s date, not that no local ordinance exists.
A note on how fast this area moves: Virginia’s law was not yet in effect when this table was last checked and becomes effective July 1, 2026. If you are reading this well after August 2026, confirm the current list against the primary sources cited above, since new states add these laws most years.
How this is different from employment verification
Salary history bans regulate a specific question, what did this person used to earn, and a specific use, setting an offer based on that number. They do not regulate whether you can verify basic employment facts about a candidate. An employment background check that confirms dates of employment, job titles, and eligibility for rehire through a former employer or a verification service is a different activity than asking about pay, and it serves a different purpose, confirming that a resume is accurate rather than benchmarking compensation.
That said, this is a general description of how the two activities differ, not legal advice about your specific verification process. Whether a particular field on a verification order counts as compensation history under a given state’s statute is a question for your own counsel, especially since a few of the laws above define compensation broadly enough to include bonuses and equity. The safest operating rule is to keep verification requests scoped to dates, titles, and eligibility for rehire, and to leave compensation fields off standard verification templates in states with a ban unless the applicant has volunteered that information first.
None of this changes the core rule that governs every background check regardless of state, that a consumer report requires a standalone disclosure and written authorization before it is procured, and that any decision made using it goes through a fair review rather than an automatic disqualification. If your hiring volume touches multiple states, building that consistency into your process, through a partner like Reveal’s staffing background check workflow or a broader employment screening program, is usually simpler than trying to maintain fifty separate intake forms.
Pay transparency: the trend that is replacing the ask
Salary history bans address what employers can ask candidates. Pay transparency laws address the reverse: what employers have to tell candidates up front, usually a minimum and maximum pay range in the job posting itself. The newest state laws, including Colorado’s, Illinois’s, Maryland’s, and Virginia’s, now pair both requirements in the same statute, which is a strong signal of where this is heading. Instead of negotiating from an unknown starting point on either side, the posted range becomes the anchor.
| State/Jurisdiction | Citation | Threshold | Effective |
|---|---|---|---|
| California | Lab. Code §432.3(c) | 15+ employees | Jan 1, 2023 |
| Colorado | C.R.S. §8-5-201 et seq. | All employers | Jan 1, 2021 |
| Illinois | 820 ILCS 112/10(b-5) | 15+ employees | Jan 1, 2025 |
| Maryland | Lab. & Empl. §3-304.2 | All employers | Oct 1, 2024 |
| New York | Lab. Law §194-b | 4+ employees | Sept 17, 2023 |
| Rhode Island | R.I. Gen. Laws §28-6-22 | No threshold | Jan 1, 2023 |
| Virginia | Va. Code §40.1-28.7:12 | 1+ employee | Jul 1, 2026 |
| Washington | RCW 49.58.110 | 15+ employees | Jan 1, 2023 |
| Washington, D.C. | D.C. Code §32-1453.01 | All employers | Mar 5, 2024 |
If you already comply with pay transparency in one of these states, you have effectively solved the salary history question too, since there is little reason to ask about someone’s old pay when the new role’s range is already public. Employers evaluating multi-state hiring, including those building out a screening program at volume, should treat pay transparency as the compliance floor going forward rather than an isolated state quirk.
What employers should do with this table
Screening is reporting information for human review, not a verdict, and pay policy questions like this one sit upstream of any background check decision. A few practical, non-legal-advice steps line up with how the laws above are structured:
- Remove salary history fields from job applications nationwide rather than maintaining state-by-state versions, since a uniform process is easier to audit.
- Train recruiters and hiring managers to ask about salary expectations or range fit instead of pay history, which every state above still permits.
- Keep verification requests limited to dates, titles, and rehire eligibility, and route anything closer to compensation data through counsel first.
- Watch for new pay transparency laws in states where you post jobs, since this list changes almost every legislative session.
Frequently asked questions
Which states currently have a statewide salary history ban?
As of August 12, 2026, eighteen states, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, and Washington, plus Washington, D.C., restrict employers from asking about or relying on a job applicant’s pay history statewide. Virginia’s law takes effect July 1, 2026.
Can an employer still ask about salary expectations instead of salary history?
Yes. Every state law reviewed for this guide restricts questions about what an applicant used to earn, not what an applicant expects or requires going forward, so asking about salary expectations or range fit is generally treated differently from asking about pay history.
Does a salary history ban stop an employer from verifying past employment?
No. These laws target questions and decisions about pay specifically. Confirming basic employment facts, such as dates of employment, job title, and eligibility for rehire, through an employment verification is a separate activity from asking about compensation. This is a general description, not legal advice, and employers should confirm how their specific verification process should be scoped in each state with their own counsel.
What is the difference between a salary history ban and a pay transparency law?
A salary history ban restricts what an employer can ask a candidate about past pay. A pay transparency law requires the employer to disclose a pay range to candidates up front, usually in the job posting. Several newer state laws now include both requirements in a single statute.
What happens if an applicant volunteers their salary history without being asked?
Most of the state laws reviewed for this guide include an exception allowing an employer to consider or verify salary history that an applicant discloses voluntarily. The exact scope of that exception varies by state, so employers should confirm the specific language with their own counsel before relying on it.
Do salary history bans apply to background check companies or only to employers?
The laws in this guide are generally written to restrict the employer or its agents from seeking or relying on salary history, which can include a screening provider acting on the employer’s behalf. Employers should confirm with their screening provider and their own counsel that verification requests are scoped correctly for each state.
Related Reading
This article is general information, not legal advice. Salary history and pay transparency requirements vary by state, change frequently, and this table reflects the primary sources verified as of August 12, 2026. Employers should confirm current obligations in every state where they hire with their own counsel before changing a policy or process.
