Can They Ask Me How Much Money I’ve Been Making at a Job Interview?
In New York City, effective 12/16/2016, this is no longer allowed. A prospective employer is not allowed to ask about salary history, including benefits, in writing or otherwise. It is also against the law to rely on the prospective salary history in setting your new salary, even if they find out about it from somewhere else: New York City Council.
Am I allowed to tell them how much I am making at interview if I want to?
Yes. If the applicant chooses to tell the prospective employer without being asked, this is allowed. You are allowed to tell someone who is offering a job, for example, that you are making more than that now and unless they offer you more, you are not inclined to take the job.
Can the Employer Have A Rule Against the Employees Telling Each Other What Their Salaries Are?
Paycheck Secrecy Policies, as they are called, are not illegal. A federal law that would have made them illegal, called the Paycheck Fairness Act, was introduced, but Republicans have always succeeding in blocking it, and after the 2016 elections, it has no chance of passing now.
Can I be legally disciplined or fired for asking another employee his/her salary, or for telling them mine?
No. This is a violation of a federal law called the National Labor Relations Act, This is the law which gives workers the right to organize, act together for their mutual aid and protection and/or to form a union. The National Labor Relations Board has held long held that It is illegal for employers to restrict many types of communications between employees about workplace issues.
What was the purpose behind these laws?
A lot of the momentum for these laws came from the clear salary disparities between men and women in the private sector. It is generally claimed that women earn about 77% of what men earn for doing the same job. Although there is a lot of disagreement about the reasons for this, as mentioned in the Washington Post, no one can seriously argue that pay discrimination against women does not exist in the workplace. These laws were all designed to level the playing field, but they clearly provide benefits to everyone who works for someone else.
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