Biden to prohibit use of salary history for federal employee hires

The Biden administration is planning to prohibit the use of salary history when hiring for federal employee roles, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) will announce later Wednesday.

The OPM is set to release proposed regulations that will ban federal agencies from considering an applicant’s nonfederal salary history when setting pay for new federal employees. The proposed regulations are part of the administration’s efforts to advance pay equity and be a model employer for the rest of the United States.

“Relying on a candidate’s previous salary history can disproportionally impact women and members of other underserved communities. With these proposed regulations, the federal government is leading the way and demonstrating to the nation that we mean business when it comes to equality, fairness, and attracting the best talent,” OPM Director Kiran Ahuja said in a statement.

Twenty-one states have laws or executive orders limiting employers from using applicants’ salary history, and some states fully prohibit it. Department of Labor data found in places that have salary history bans, minority workers who changed jobs saw a 7.9 percent increase in their wages.

President Biden in his fiscal 2024 budget proposed a 5.2 percent average pay raise for federal employees and military personnel. The pay raise in the budget, announced in March, would be an increase from the 4.6 percent pay raise federal employees received this year.