Employers used to rely on asking candidates about their salary history in order to evaluate their skill level and past job performance, to determine if the candidate is within the company’s budget, and finally to decide how much he/she should be offered for the position in question. This has usually been in the range of 15%-20% above their current base salary.
The concern about salary history is based on the notion that reliance on prior salary information contributes to perpetuating unequal pay between women and men who do the same or similar work if such was established from early on in their careers. In order to put an end to this historic pay disparity, state and local governments are increasingly implementing laws and regulations prohibiting employers from asking candidates about their current salary.