Photo Courtesy of Ed Reed/Mayoral Photography Office
Mayor de Blasio signed Executive Order 21 last Friday.
By Forum Staff
Mayor Bill de Blasio last week signed Executive Order 21 prohibiting City agencies from inquiring about the salary history of job applicants.
The Executive Order, which goes into effect in 30 days, dictates that prior to making a conditional offer of employment, City agencies cannot seek to obtain information regarding an applicant’s salary history either through direct questioning of an applicant or through searches of public records. An applicant’s salary history includes prior wage, salary, benefits or other compensation. The order allows for City agencies to inquire about previous salary only after making a conditional offer of employment that includes the salary for the job, and solely for the purpose of evaluating an applicant’s representations about their prior employment, such as degree of responsibility or breadth of role.
The Department of Citywide Administrative Services will provide training for Agency Personnel Officers on the appropriate manner in which to ask about the pay history of applicants who have received conditional offers, de Blasio said. Personnel Officers will train their Agency Human Resources staff. DCAS will also conduct periodic reviews to ensure that agency practices comply with the order and collect relevant data for its reviews.
According to de Blasio, by eliminating questions regarding an applicant’s previous compensation – which is often used as a benchmark from which to determine starting pay in a new position – employers take a vital step to stop perpetuating a cycle of suppressed wages for women and people of color within their workforce.
“It’s no secret that throughout our nation’s workforce, women and people of color are, on average, paid less for the same work as their white, male counterparts. As the employer of over 300,000 City workers, I have a responsibility to lead the way in putting an end to that cycle of discrimination,” de Blasio said. “Women and people of color constitute the majority of our City workforce and a large share of the people of working age in this city. It’s essential to the success of our local government and our city as a whole that everyone is treated – and paid – with the fairness and respect they deserve.”
According to the administration, women in the five boroughs continue to earn less than men and are more likely to live in poverty. The income gaps are widest among women of color, older women, immigrants, and women without a high school degree. According to U.S. Census Bureau data, the mean income for women in New York City was equivalent to just 80 percent of what men earned, a gap of $10,470. The report also showed that across the United States, women employed full-time lose a combined total of more than $840 billion each year due to the wage gap. Reports on the gender wage gap vary slightly across the board, but according to 2015 U.S Census Bureau data, women earn approximately 80 cents on the dollar compared to their male counterparts. The problem is even more evident for women of color, compared to what white males make: Black women make 64 cents to every white male dollar, while Latina women make 54 cents, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
“Thank you to my great city of New York. You’ve paved the way for a new day when our present and future are no longer limited to the past,” added famed feminist, journalist, and activist Gloria Steinem.
