The New Year has come and gone and with it came hopes of new beginnings, resolutions and endearing expectations for all. For employees, that meant professional improvement and career path refinement, while for employers, it means year-end report audits, tax filings, first quarter forecasts, and just as important, new considerations and restrictions regarding compliance. This is especially true in the wake of the new presidential administration that promised to bring significant changes with swift and forceful reform. This shift in policy and culture will be sure to have an impact on individuals and employers alike. But for now as we can only anticipate those new policy reforms, employers needs to start acting now on these three new policies that are already, or soon will be, in effect for 2017.
Restrictions To Wage History Inquiries in Philadelphia
The first policy that should be on your radar as an employer in Philadelphia, is compliance with the new restrictions that limit your ability to inquire about an applicant’s wage history. The Wage History Ordinance was signed into law by Mayor Jim Kenney in late January. Aimed at helping to curb the pay gap for women and minorities, the new law makes it unlawful “for an employer, employment agency, or employee or agent thereof” to “inquire about a prospective employee’s wage history, require disclosure of wage history, or condition employment or consideration for an interview or employment on disclosure of wage history.” Specifically, “‘to inquire’ shall mean to ask a job applicant in writing or otherwise, and ‘wages’ shall mean all earnings of an employee, regardless of whether determined on time, task, piece, commission or other method of calculation and including fringe benefits, wage supplements, or other compensation whether payable by the employer from employer funds or from amounts withheld from the employee’s pay by the employer.”
