Salary History Ordinance

Prohibits employers from asking applicants about their current or past salary or disclosing a current or former employee's salary history without the employee's authorization unless the salary history is publicly available.

The Consideration of Salary History Ordinance bans employers, including City contractors and subcontractors, from considering current or past salary of an applicant in determining whether to hire the applicant or what salary to offer the applicant.

The ordinance also prohibits employers from (1) asking applicants about their current or past salary or (2) disclosing a current or former employee’s salary history without that employee’s authorization unless the salary history is publicly available.

Note that the State of California has also passed legislation prohibiting employers from asking applicants about their current or past salary. The statewide law took effect on January 1, 2018. See the text of AB-168.

Poster

Employer Consideration of Salary History Poster 

Poster must be displayed at each workplace or job site. The poster is designed to be printed on 8.5" x 14" paper. 

Legal Authority

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors passed the Consideration of Salary History Ordinance on July 11, 2017.

Resources

Video resources

Contact us

If you have any questions about your rights or responsibilities, contact us: salaryhistory@sfgov.org or call 554-6469. 

You can file a complaint if you believe your rights have been violated.

Last updated September 18, 2024