Minnesota employers with a location in Massachusetts should take note that Massachusetts passed a new Pay Equity Act yesterday, which, among other things, makes it unlawful to ask applicants about their salary history effective January 1, 2018. Specifically, the Pay Equity Act provides:

“(c) It shall be an unlawful practice for an employer to:

(1) require, as a condition of employment, that an employee refrain from inquiring about, discussing or disclosing information about either the employee’s own wages, including benefits or other compensation, or about any other employee’s wages;

(2) screen job applicants based on their wage, including benefits or other compensation or salary histories, including by requiring that an applicant’s prior wages, including benefits or other compensation or salary history satisfy minimum or maximum criteria; or request or require as a condition of being interviewed, or as a condition of continuing to be considered for an offer of employment, that an applicant disclose prior wages or salary history;

(3) seek the salary history of any prospective employee from any current or former employer; provided, however, that a prospective employee may provide written authorization to a prospective employer to confirm prior wages, including benefits or other compensation or salary history only after any offer of employment with compensation has been made to the prospective employee…”

I won’t go much beyond that, as this won’t apply to many Minnesota employers,  but if it does apply to your business, you can find the full text here. I would not be surprised if we see something like this down the pipeline here in Minnesota in the future.