NYC salary question

Folks - in NYC, employers aren't allowed to ask for past salary data. However, many simply dodge around the question by asking how much would you like to make and obviously that's typically 10-20% over what you currently make in most cases with tenured professionals. If you accidentally slip some data around what your W2-'s have looked like, can the new employer verify salary data or W-2 data from any 3rd party companies before you join them? Thanks

gerard2006 said:

Folks - in NYC, employers aren't allowed to ask for past salary data. However, many simply dodge around the question by asking how much would you like to make and obviously that's typically 10-20% over what you currently make in most cases with tenured professionals. If you accidentally slip some data around what your W2-'s have looked like, can the new employer verify salary data or W-2 data from any 3rd party companies before you join them? Thanks

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Please clarify what you mean by "accidentally slip some data around what your W2's have looked like".

Thank you

gerard2006 said:

can the new employer verify salary data or W-2 data from any 3rd party companies before you join them?

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No.

That would be illegal according to the following summary of the NY labor law.


As for you accidentlaly providing any hints, well, that's on you.

Well to negotiate, you have to have some basis and some background. I can't randomly throw a number and let it stick in my world. There are numerous components of my compensation and I went over that including our stock plan and it's a small world so they sort of know how it works at my end. I'm also at the higher tier of a typical range so had to find a way to justify why I'm asking what I'm asking. Just trying to provide more background here. But it's good to know that either before or during or after being employed, they aren't able to go back to look for specifics about my historic comp plan.

One more question - given this company will use a 3rd party background check company, what should I provide them to say I was employed by x company? Some of these background check companies ask for a W-2. Should I just provide a screenshot showing the top section up to FED ID number and leave out the info on wages, etc or is there another kind of document that will suffice? Thank you all!

gerard2006 said:

in NYC, employers aren't allowed to ask for past salary data

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Not just NYC. New York Labor Law section 194-a states that "No employer shall . . . b. orally or in writing seek, request, or require the wage or salary history from an applicant or current employee as a condition to be interviewed, or as a condition of continuing to be considered for an offer of employment, or as a condition of employment or promotion."

gerard2006 said:

many simply dodge around the question by asking how much would you like to make

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I'm curious how you purport to know what "many" NYC employers do. Have you collected survey data?

gerard2006 said:

and obviously that's typically 10-20% over what you currently make in most cases with tenured professionals.

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I don't think that's obvious at all, but I guess what you're suggesting is that "many" employers ask how much an applicant wants to make and then divides the response by 1.1 or 1.2 to estimate the applicant's prior salary. Is that what you're suggesting?

gerard2006 said:

If you accidentally slip some data around what your W2-'s have looked like,

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I have no idea what this means.

gerard2006 said:

can the new employer verify salary data or W-2 data from any 3rd party companies before you join them?

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As noted above, section 194-a makes it illegal for an employer to "seek" an applicant's wage or salary history. However, section 194-a(2) states that "Nothing in this section shall prevent an applicant or current employee from voluntarily, and without prompting, disclosing or verifying wage or salary history, including but not limited to for the purposes of negotiating wages or salary."

gerard2006 said:

Well to negotiate, you have to have some basis and some background.

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Who is "you" in this sentence?

gerard2006 said:

I can't randomly throw a number and let it stick in my world.

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Huh?

gerard2006 said:

given this company will use a 3rd party background check company, what should I provide them to say I was employed by x company?

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As phrased, this question raises no legal issue. A prospective employer hiring an upper level employee will be specific with what it requests if it need additional information to run background checks.

gerard2006 said:

But it's good to know that either before or during or after being employed, they aren't able to go back to look for specifics about my historic comp plan.

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That would suggest to me that you are not being honest about your current position, title, responsibilities, or experience for the job you are applying for because, an employer would know what your job title is paid (on average) in the job market you are in.

Say you were a supply chain manager for a manufacturing company of cosmetic products on the east coast. The employer would know what that job was worth in salary and compensation. If you are honest about your resume, you would get a fair starting salary offer for what you say your skills and experience dictate and you can negotiate from there.

There are scores of employment websites that list what job titles are worth in salary for the market you are in. Indeed, is one of them. You can search for what your title is and the region of the country and find out what the average salaries are.

The bottom line is that if you misrepresent yourself and get the job, you may soon be out of a job if you can't do what you said you can do or what your expertise and experience is.

Something to think about.