This new year presents a host of compliance and litigation challenges for the employment law practitioner. Perennially, employment law attorneys focus on restrictive covenants and wage-and-hour regulations, and this year is no exception. Other trends reflect new challenges as the law develops to keep up with modern workplace realities.

Salary Inquiries for Job Applicants

Many jurisdictions, like the city of Philadelphia, have enacted legislation prohibiting an inquiry into an applicant’s wage or salary history. The Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce challenged the city of Philadelphia’s ordinance on First Amendment grounds in Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce v. Philadelphia, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, 17-cv-01548). Specifically, the Philadelphia ordinance included an inquiry provision, prohibiting an employer from asking about an applicant’s wage history, and a “reliance” provision, which prohibits an employer from relying on wage history in making hiring decisions. The district court determined that the inquiry provision constituted an unconstitutional infringement of First Amendment rights, but upheld the reliance provision. The court of appeals reversed the district court in part, upholding the entire ordinance as a proper remedy to address the substantial government interest in addressing the pay gap for minorities and women, see Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce v. Philadelphia, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, No. 18-2175, 18-2176.