Virginia job seekers now have a right to know what a position pays before applying online under a new state law aimed at giving workers more leverage in hiring and salary negotiations.
The new law, which took effect July 1, requires employers to include a good-faith wage or salary range in public and internal job postings for openings, promotions, transfers and other employment opportunities.
It also bars employers from asking applicants about their salary history or using prior pay when making hiring and compensation decisions. Employers may also not retaliate against applicants or employees who decline to provide their salary history or ask how much a position pays.
Gov. Abigail Spanberger said the ban on salary-history questions could prove just as significant as requiring pay ranges because it prevents a candidate’s previous salary from becoming the starting point for negotiations.
“Where it becomes impactful is that if I apply for a job with a certain salary range, and my salary history is $40,000, it is not legal anymore to ask what I made,” Spanberger told The Mercury in an interview earlier this month.
An applicant could instead base a salary request on the employer’s posted range without having to explain or defend what a previous employer paid, she said.
The law, sponsored as Senate Bill 215 by state Sen. Jennifer Boysko, D-Fairfax, and House Bill 636 by Del. Michelle Maldonado, D-Manassas, places Virginia among a growing number of states requiring employers to...
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