Laws prohibiting prospective employers from asking applicants about their prior wage history have been part of a growing trend across the country. Philadelphia joined that trend in late 2016 when the city council passed an ordinance prohibiting employers from inquiring about a prospective employee’s wage history and making it illegal for an employer to rely on wage history at any stage in the employment process when setting the employee’s salary.

Shortly after passage, the Chamber of Commerce for Greater Philadelphia, joined by a number of prominent local businesses, brought suit to enjoin implementation of the ordinance. In Chamber of Commerce for Greater Philadelphia v. City of Philadelphia, No. 17-1548, 2018 LEXIS 72758 (E.D. Pa. April 30, 2018), the court granted the chamber’s motion for a preliminary injunction staying the implementation of the ordinance as it related to precluding employers from inquiring regarding an employee’s prior salary history (referred to as the inquiry provision). The court, however, refused to enjoin the prohibition against relying upon an employee’s salary history in setting his/her future salary (the reliance provision). The decision, in effect, allows employers to inquire about an applicant’s salary history but then prohibits them from doing anything with the information.

Wage Disparity Acknowledged