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Comment by mangoman | Hacker News Reader

The one thing I saw missing from the application was a salary floor / expectation. I currently support my wife on my salary, and wouldn't be able to work for less than a certain amount. I would apply through this for a lot of startups, but I wouldn't want to go through the entire interview process and realize that they can't pay me what I need to support my family.

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I don't think you will encounter the following problem: "I wouldn't want to go through the entire interview process and realize that they can't pay me what I need to support my family." After filling out an application the next step is that a YC founder will reach out to you. You can literally talk about salary requirements in the first conversation.

I'm single, with no kids, and no one to support but me. I'm not going to work for less either.

> I'm not going to work for less either.

You can take equity instead of cash though.

No thank you. I'm not 19 anymore. I'll take the high paying job, and dump the rest into Vanguard funds. Guarantee I'll make more money off of the majority of nonsense stock options.

Thank you for the feedback, that is a very good point!

Good point - I'm in a similar situation.

Asking for salary information upfront in California -- where most YC companies are -- will be illegal on Jan 1st. Many companies seem to be complying with this requirement already. In fact even asking a price floor might be illegal, as salary information can only be used in determining the salary if it was provided "voluntarily and without prompting." [0]

0: http://www.sfgate.com/business/networth/article/New-law-bans...

It sounds to me like the GP was interested in companies proactively providing the salary range for the job, which doesn't seem to fall under the new law. The new changes also wouldn't prohibit an employer from asking for a desired salary range, would it?

I'm not a lawyer, but the actual law says "An employer shall not, orally or in writing, personally or through an agent, seek salary history information, including compensation and benefits, about an applicant for employment." It would probably be up to a judge to determine whether asking for a range could be construed as asking for "salary history." Considering this law is a misdemeanor, which means the potential for jail time, I'd stay on the side of caution until some test cases come out.

Note that says an employer, not a (potential) employee.

Right, I think both of our discussions were about an employer, as in the entity doing the hiring. Did I miswrite something?

The original comment is about the interviewee making sure that the employer is offering a salary above a certain threshold, before going through the whole interview process. This doesn't have anything to do with the employer asking about past salary information.

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