Whether a salary-history question is illegal or just negotiable depends entirely on where you’re applying, not on etiquette. An application asking for past pay can be a compliance issue in one state and a standard negotiation prompt in the next.
It matters when a US application includes a field labeled current salary, past salary, or salary history and you have to decide whether to leave it blank, enter a placeholder, or redirect. The answer changes because places like New York prohibit wage or salary history inquiries, while other locations still allow employers to ask. Once you verify your jurisdiction you can choose from three response paths that preserve application completeness without disclosing history — here’s what to check first.
Why where you apply changes whether you must answer
Where a salary-history ban applies, an employer’s request for past pay is out of compliance with that jurisdiction’s law. That shifts your bargaining power from a purely tactical negotiation to a legal-compliance basis.
Where no ban applies, redirecting to a stated range is a negotiation tactic, not a legal protection. The employer can still ask, and may still use that history to anchor an offer lower if you disclose it.
Coverage is state and city specific. A widely cited secondary summary noted twenty-two American states and twenty-three municipalities had adopted some form of ban as of May 2024, but new cities and states have been added regularly since. That means the count alone isn’t enough — you need to check the specific statute for the job location, not your home address.
In New York, for example, wage or salary history inquiries prohibited means an employer shall not orally or in writing seek, request, or require wage or salary history, and shall not rely on it to determine whether to offer employment or what wages to offer. The scope includes benefits, not just base pay, as described in guidance that employers are prohibited from asking for salary history information including wages.
Some states ban only state agencies from asking, while others ban private employers too. That distinction determines whether your response can reference law or must rely on negotiation language alone.
Salary history vs salary expectations vs desired salary — what employers can still ask
Salary history is past or current compensation — wages, salary, bonuses, commissions, equity, and benefits that a previous employer paid you. Salary expectations and desired salary mean what you seek for this specific role, usually expressed as a range.
The legal distinction matters because bans target history, not expectations. Under the pay history guidance, an employer cannot ask, encourage, or prompt an applicant to disclose pay history for the purpose of negotiating wages, and must remove that part of an application that asks for it. California makes the same split: an employer shall not seek salary history information including compensation and benefits, but may discuss salary expectations, and an applicant may voluntarily disclose.
Colorado’s Equal Pay for Equal Work Act says employers shall not seek wage rate history and may not rely on it to determine a wage rate, while also requiring notice of the job’s pay range. That means in Colorado you’ll often see the posting range stated, which gives you an anchor other than your past pay.
Applications often conflate the terms in one field. One field may lump both under “salary history / expectations,” and when that happens the label alone decides your path. For related guidance, see our guide on resume tailoring, which breaks down how to spot required vs preferred language and field labels in postings — the same check helps you tell a history field from an expectations field.
Try this before you apply: look at the exact field label — does it say salary history, previous salary, current salary, or does it say salary expectations, desired salary, expected range? That wording decides whether you are looking at a potentially banned request or a routine negotiation question.
What to check first — is your state or city on the ban list
Start with job location, not residence.
The law that applies is usually where the work would be performed or where the employer is hiring, not where you live.
Check the primary source first. Read wage or salary history inquiries prohibited for New York Labor Law 194-a, shall not seek salary history information for California Labor Code 432.3, cannot ask encourage prompt applicant for Minnesota, and not seek wage rate history for Colorado’s Equal Pay for Equal Work Act. Note the effective dates — Minnesota’s ban took effect January 1, 2024, as the University of Minnesota’s HR notice on the legislation confirms.
Then check city ordinances if your state has no ban. New York City’s Introduction 1253-A, Philadelphia, and others created city-level bans before their states did. Because of this, a state list alone can miss your protection.
Secondary lists help you scan but aren’t the legal source. One trade roundup describes states that have enacted salary history bans, and HR Dive maintains a running list of state-wide salary history bans — including Alabama, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, DC, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania state agencies only, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, and others added since May 2024 — with per-state effective dates and links to the original laws. Treat these as pointers to the primary statute pages, not as the rule itself, and re-check close to when you apply because new bans are added regularly.
If you’re applying outside the United States, check local law directly. Everything above is scoped to US state and city bans, and nothing here should be read as guidance on any other jurisdiction’s rules. Pay-equity rules vary widely by country and even by province or city.
How to answer when your location bans salary history questions
When your location bans the question, your goal is to preserve application completeness without disclosing history.
If the field is optional, leave it blank and use a cover letter or additional information field to state your expectations: “I’m seeking roles in the $X to $Y range based on the posted scope and market for this location.” This avoids a false number while giving the employer a usable budget signal.
If the field requires a number, two workarounds are commonly used. One career-coach guide suggests that when the form forces a numeric value, you write 0 and add a note elsewhere: “I entered 0 on the salary question; however, I want to clarify I am flexible if we determine there is a mutual fit and am seeking $X–$Y.” Another describes treating salary history as covered by confidentiality agreements with past employers while stating the range you seek, or simply stating that range.
For interviews in a banned location, keep the reference brief and non-accusatory. One low-friction formulation: “I believe there’s a new law that puts that type of question out of bounds, but I’m happy to discuss salary requirements for this role.” This acknowledges the law without debating it and pivots to expectations, which are allowed.
Because the request itself is out of compliance in a banned jurisdiction, you have compliance-based bargaining power, not just negotiation power.
Document what was asked.
Save a screenshot of the application field and the posting’s pay range if one is listed, as Colorado and other states now require range disclosure.
At the job location, look for: does the application allow N/A or 0 in salary history field, and is there an additional information field where you can add redirect language referencing salary expectations?
How to answer when no ban applies — keeping current salary confidential
Without a ban, redirecting is a tactic, not a legal protection. You can keep current pay confidential, but the employer is still allowed to ask, and may still try to use history to anchor.
The strongest redirect names a researched range tied to this role, not to your past pay: “I’m focusing on roles in the $X to $Y range based on market data and the scope described.” This answers the underlying budget question without disclosing confidential compensation.
If you must acknowledge current pay, use confidentiality language: “My current compensation includes confidential elements I’m not able to share, but I’m seeking $X–$Y for roles of this scope.” This is decisive yet reinforces integrity, which one career guide describes as the decisive yet reinforces your integrity standard for this question.
Email adds pressure. When a recruiter asks by email, it can feel rude not to answer and you should not ignore it completely. A brief redirect preserves the relationship: thank them, state your range, ask for theirs.
For required application fields in non-banned locations, there is a trade-off. One perspective notes that putting in negotiable is not incomplete and suggests asking about the salary being offered instead, while noting the practical risk that some applicant tracking filters may treat non-numeric answers as incomplete. If the system requires a number, entering your target range with a note “target expectations, not history” can keep the application moving while avoiding a false history figure.
Job seekers facing this exact field-completion problem commonly describe entering 0 with an explanatory note rather than leaving a required field blank. The mechanism is consistent with wage or salary history inquiries prohibited and shall not seek salary history information — a forced numeric field can be answered with a placeholder plus a redirect note without disclosing history.
In practitioner communities, a common reframing for interview pressure is to state that you were properly compensated in your last position, then immediately ask for the position’s budgeted range to shift the exchange to expectations. That move aligns with guidance that the best response is decisive yet reinforces your integrity.
Jurisdiction-aware salary-history verification checklist and response decision tree
The checklist below is your practical deliverable. It combines verification and response selection so you do not give one generic answer for two very different legal situations.
Step 1: Confirm job location jurisdiction
Identify city and state where the role would be performed, not where you live. If remote, use the employer’s listed work location or the location they ask you to designate for tax purposes.
Step 2: Check if state has ban via primary source
Open the primary pages for wage or salary history inquiries prohibited, shall not seek salary history information, cannot ask encourage prompt applicant, and not seek wage rate history. Note that New York prohibits seeking history including past wages salaries benefits, and Colorado prohibits seeking or relying on wage history while requiring range posting. Record the effective date — for Minnesota, that’s January 1, 2024, per the University of Minnesota’s notice to its employers.
Step 3: Check city ban if state does not
If your state has no state-wide ban, check city ordinances. New York City, Philadelphia, San Francisco, and others adopted bans earlier than their states. City coverage typically extends to private employers too, not just city agencies, which is exactly why the city check matters even in states without their own ban.
Step 4: Note effective date and coverage
Mark whether the ban covers private employers or state agencies only, and whether it prohibits both seeking and relying on history. As of May 2024 per secondary compilation, 22 states and 23 municipalities had some form of ban, but re-check before you apply because new bans are added regularly. The analysis is US-only; non-US readers should check local law.
Step 5: Identify field type — history vs expectations vs desired
Look at the exact label. History, previous salary, current salary means past pay — potentially banned. Expectations, desired, expected range: allowed everywhere.
Step 6: Choose response path
Banned-optional: leave blank with expectations note. Banned-required numeric: enter 0 or N/A if text allows, with compliance note referencing law and expectations. Non-banned-optional: redirect to range. Non-banned-required: negotiable or range with confidentiality note, weighing auto-reject risk.
Step 7: Document and save
Screenshot the field as asked, save the posting’s salary range if provided, and keep a copy of your redirect note. If the posting lists a range per Colorado’s notice requirement, use that posted range to frame the expectations number you give, because an ask anchored inside their own band is hard to argue with.
Step 8: Prepare interview redirect script
Prepare one short script for each path so you are not improvising under pressure. In banned jurisdictions, reference compliance briefly; in non-banned, lead with range and market.
Before committing, verify: compare job location jurisdiction against current statute page NY 194-a CA 432.3 MN pay history guidance CO Equal Pay Act and check whether posting includes required salary range.
Why putting negotiable can still trigger auto-rejection
Some applicant tracking systems treat a text entry like negotiable in a numeric field as incomplete, so it may be filtered early. One trade discussion notes applications can be screened out for not including history when it’s specifically requested, which reflects how employers configure completeness checks, not a legal rule.
Mitigation is to enter 0 with an explanatory note in a text field, or provide a range in additional information rather than leaving the required field blank. That preserves completeness while keeping your history confidential. The trade-off is preserving application flow versus preserving confidentiality — in banned jurisdictions you have stronger grounds to use 0/N/A with a compliance note, in non-banned you are weighing negotiation risk.
What to Check First
Verify the job’s city and state against the current primary source — New York Labor Law 194-a, California Labor Code 432.3, Minnesota’s pay-history guidance, and Colorado’s Equal Pay for Equal Work Act — noting whether private employers are covered and whether both seeking and relying on history are prohibited. If the field asks for history in a banned location, leave it blank or enter 0 with a note redirecting to your expected range; if no ban applies, redirect to a market-based range while keeping current pay confidential. Using the wrong path either discloses an anchor that can perpetuate past underpayment or triggers an auto-reject for an incomplete required field.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between salary history and salary expectations?
Salary history is the pay and benefits a prior employer paid — banned from employer requests in many states. Salary expectations is what you seek for this role, allowed everywhere. Minnesota’s disclose pay history guidance allows expectations questions, and California’s salary history information ban still permits voluntary disclosure.
Which states currently ban salary history questions?
One running list tracks 22 state-wide and 24 local bans with effective dates. City bans like NYC add coverage where no state ban exists, so re-check before applying — non-US readers should check local law.
What should I write if an application requires a number for salary history?
If your location bans the question, enter 0 with a note that you entered 0 to complete the form but seek $X–$Y. Without a ban, negotiable is not incomplete as an entry, but it can still trigger incomplete filters.
Can an employer in a banned state still ask about my desired salary?
Yes. Bans prohibit history, not expectations. Minnesota’s pay-history guidance allows expectations questions, and Colorado’s salary rate or range requirements mean employers must often post their range, so you can answer with $X–$Y based on scope and market.
