The Bureau of Labor Statistics has reported that the average woman made 80 percent of the average man’s earnings in the fourth quarter of 2018. Many state and local governments are taking action to help narrow the pay gap, such as the restriction of requesting or relying on prior salary information during the hiring process. Federal law, however, remains split on whether prior salary information may be a permissible “factor other than sex” under the Equal Pay Act. Ending the practice of requesting prior pay salary information is only a first step and employers should consider how existing pay disparities are affecting the current pay scale.
