Washington Adds Pay History Ban, Salary Range Transparency Requirements [pdf]

From the Bill Digest [1]:

  - Prohibits  an  employer  from:
    (1)  Seeking  the  wage  or salary  history  of  an  applicant  for  employment  from  the applicant or a current or former employer; or
    (2) Requiring that an applicant's prior wage or salary history meet certain criteria.
  - Requires an employer, upon request of an applicant for employment, to provide the wage scale or salary range for the job  title  for  the  position  for  which  the  applicant  is applying.
  - Requires  the  director  of  the  department  of  labor  and industries,   upon   complaint   by   an   employee,   to:
    (1) Investigate  to  determine  whether  an  employer  has  violated this act; and
    (2) If  it  is  determined  that  an  employer  has  violated this  act,  order  the  employer  to  pay  actual  and  statutory damages,  and  interest  of  one  percent  per  month,  to  the complainant.

The salary range clause is particularly interesting. I help run Levels.fyi and we actually just released a visualization for comp ranges by level at companies [2]. Users have found it incredibly useful but it is based on user-contributed data and so there will always be a question of accuracy. This new law (I hope) allows us to display accurate ranges.

[1] https://app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary?BillNumber=1696&Year=2019... [2] https://www.levels.fyi/charts.html