Connecticut Employers are Banned from Asking Applicants’ Salary History Effective January 1, 2019

Executive Summary: As of January 1, 2019, Connecticut employers are prohibited from inquiring about an applicant’s prior salary history. The new law, Public Act No. 18-8, An Act Concerning Pay Equity (the “Act”), is aimed at closing the gender wage gap. Statistics still show that women earn 79 cents for every dollar earned by men to perform the same work. Many speculate that the gap persists, in part, because employers often base salary for new hires on their salary at their previous job. As a result, the continuation of lower pay rates for women persists, and the wage gap continues unabated. This law and similar laws prohibiting asking about prior salary are an effort to close the gap between what men and women earn.