Ahead of Equal Pay Day, Norton Introduces Bill to Prohibit Employers from Asking for Job Applicant Salary Histories
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Ahead of Equal Pay Day on March 25th, Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), the first woman to chair the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, introduced a bill to prohibit employers from asking for a job applicant’s salary history before making a job or salary offer.
Equal Pay Day marks the number of additional days women must work to earn what men earned the prior year. Workers from historically disadvantaged groups, including women, often start their careers with lower pay than their white male counterparts and can never catch up. While employers may not intend to discriminate, asking for prior pay information can have a discriminatory effect and reinforce the pay gap. This bill passed the House in the 116th and 117th Congresses.
"Equal Pay Day is an annual reminder that American women earn less than men for performing the same work,” Norton said. “The disparity often takes root in the interview process, before a job is even offered. The single question of salary history frequently disadvantages women and minorities, whose disproportionately lower salaries carry through their entire careers simply because wages at their first job were set unfairly because of their race or sex."
Norton’s introductory statement follows.
Statement of Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton on the
Introduction of the Salary History Question Prohibition Act of 2025
March 18, 2025
Today, I introduce the Salary History Question Prohibition Act of 2025, which would help reduce the gender and racial pay gap by prohibiting employers from asking job applicants for their salary history before making a job or salary offer. Even though many employers may not intentionally discriminate against applicants based on gender or race, setting pay based on salary history can reinforce the pay gap. Members of historically disadvantaged groups often start their careers with unfair and artificially low pay compared to their white male counterparts, and these disparities compound throughout their careers. The House passed this bill as part of the Paycheck Fairness Act in the 116th and 117th Congresses.
There is much work to do to end the pay gap. This bill represents a crucial step toward that goal.
I urge my colleagues to support this bill.
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