MN Employers Cannot Ask About Pay History Starting Jan. 1

ST. PAUL, MN — Starting on Jan. 1, employers and labor organizations cannot legally ask a job applicant about their previous salary, benefits, or anything else related to pay history.

The new law was passed by Democrats in the Minnesota Legislature during the 2023 session.

"An employer, employment agency, or labor organization shall not inquire into, consider, or require disclosure from any source the pay history of an applicant for employment for the purpose of determining wages, salary, earnings, benefits, or other compensation for that applicant," the law states.

Job applicants are allowed to bring up their past compensation history "voluntarily and without asking, encouraging, or prompting disclosing pay history for the purposes of negotiating wages, salary, benefits, or other compensation."

Advocates for the new law argued that pay history questions negatively impact the wages of women and minorities hoping to escape a pay gap by trying to get a new job.

Exemptions in the law include situations where a job applicant's pay history is a matter of public record under federal or state law. However, employers are still prohibited from seeking "access to those public records with the intent of obtaining pay history of the applicant for the purpose of determining wages, salary, earnings, benefits, or other compensation for that applicant."