If this is correct, then it would be risky for someone to lie to a new employer about their former salary in order to receive an offer for a higher pay, because the new employer could use this service to cross check the employee's claims.
You aren't some desperate person begging for work, you are helping them achieve their goals in exchange for payment. It is a trade.
That being said, at least for the big companies the initial salary is not that important. In some ways you are just setting yourself up for disappointment since if you start at the top of the band there will be no significant raises without a promotion.
For RSUs it has a pretty significant effect for 4 years though.
You can always say no.
In some ways you are just setting yourself up for disappointment since if you start at the top of the band there will be no significant raises without a promotion.
It sounds like you're saying starting at 80% of the band so you can enjoy a 25% raise to get to the top is better than just starting at the top. That doesn't make sense though.
The problem is that we all still expect to get a raise, and that cannot happen at a big company if it would take you out of band. I don't think there are many exceptions to this. If they really like you they might throw some RSUs at you, but very likely will not go over the salary for that band.
So unless you think you can get promoted right away (which requires significant luck as well), I think for long term happiness it is actually better to get salary on 80% and negotiate more on the initial RSU grant.
If you want to actually get paid more, get two competing offers. Or you can try the strategy of not lying and just telling the new employer, 'I'm not going to tell you my previous salary.' The downside is that this clearly signals to the employer that you weren't making very much before and you are fishing for a big raise.
This kind of goes against conventional wisdom, but I actually don't think that switching jobs is the strongest time to ask for more money. I think it's after you have gotten into a role, are killing it, and adding crazy value to the company. That's when you actually have a lot of leverage to say 'hey, I love what I'm doing here and I should be paid a lot more'.
Out of curiosity, has that worked for you? My previous employer only gave me a significant raise after I threatened to quit (with an offer waiting at another company). I ended up doing it a few times. Eventually I got tired of constantly interviewing and threatening to quit and did a sideways move to a YC backed company. Total comp is about the same, maybe slightly lower, but maybe the stocks will pay out some day :D. Being fully remote is a nice perk though.
Middle managers can't approve any raise higher than say, 5%, and even that's after a full review cycle.
It's a lot more likely to put a bullseye on your head as "money driven" or something considered negative (yes, the irony is jarring!).
They can ask their boss to approve it though, and if necessary it could go all the way to the top.
The positive case is the (very rare) exception.
If you are truly in a company that far gone with process then all is lost (and top talent will just leave anyways.) Or you are a lawyer :)
In my experience this can only happen at small companies. The bigger the company the more they'll wish you good luck in future endeavors if you insist.
Calling it "fishing for a big raise" sounds like you're trying to scam a higher salary out of an employer. That just isn't true. There's no reason to think you're worth less just because your previous employer sucked.
Salary negotiation is about finding an amount that the employer and employee agree a job is worth. Any previous salary has no impact on that.
And if you don't like the 'fishing for a raise' terminology we can instead just say that it signals that you don't think your previous salary is a strong point in your negotiation. So now the prospective employer doesn't know your salary, but suspects that the negotiation window is quite wide.
Fact of the matter is that this tool makes it trivial for medium and large employers to suppress wages.
However, for the average worker, this is awful
There's a way to break Equifax, but they're expecting people not to have the balls/time to do it, and I think they're right. You can't expect your average mom of two that works at Walmart to figure this stuff out, it's a tilted playing field.