Are We Bound By the Compensation Law in Massachusetts?

Question:

As 3rd party recruiters, will we be bound by the law in Massachusetts, which now prohibits employers from asking a candidate what their compensation is (prior to an offer being made)?

Danny's response:

While I have no doubt what starts in Massachusetts will become the way it is throughout the land, (that whole Boston Tea Party thing seemed to catch on like wildfire back in the day), and at first blush it freaks recruiters out.

For those reading this who don’t know, a bill was passed making it illegal for employers to ask candidates about their current salary before offering them a job. (See article here.) It is a well-intentioned law, however misguided and proof positive that politicians lack real-world biz experience, to create pay equality. The new law will require employers to state a compensation figure up front.

In the real world, of course, this can get messy.

• People can volunteer their salaries, so will this create gamesmanship and manipulation to get around the issue without violating the law? (uh, yes)

• What if the employer is so impressed with a candidate he/she decides to upgrade the position and pay above the stated amount? Are they to be carted away in handcuffs? Will the other candidates vying for the job scream foul and sue? Will this, in fact, create a lot of spurious litigation?

• Who enforces this? How do we know? Do we tap the conference rooms? Are we a decade away from a Bio Pic by Oliver Stone called “HR…Human Resistance, the story of an HR clerk who stood up to the bureaucracy and defended the law by eavesdropping and blowing the whistle on job interviews”?

…and to your point,

Are third-party recruiters exempted from this law? Meaning, can we ask, and pass that information on? And if we can, I LOVE this law, because it gives clients one more reason to work with a recruiter, compensation management/sanity.

There are more questions than answers right now. I have contacts in Massachusetts following this up with their lawyers and lobbyists. Stay tuned. We have time. For now, stay the course.