Salary history bans help level the pay gap for women

Salary history bans adopted by many states and cities over the past several years are working to reduce widespread pay inequity between women and men. Researchers from the Boston University School of Law note that women recently hired in jurisdictions with bans earn significantly more than newly hired women in other areas. Advocates of the bans have argued for years that the use of a worker’s past salary to determine starting wages at a new workplace is inherently discriminatory because “on average, women have a weaker salary history than men.” The report also finds that salary history bans could help close the racial pay gap as well. Women last year on average earned about 85% of what men did.