Paying People What They Are Worth

I just learned about a relatively new law that has been enacted in California and New York states that prohibit employers from asking candidates about their salary history as a prerequisite for employment.

As you might know, this is a common practice among companies to reduce the amount they offer to employees, thus leading to pay inequities for the same job depending on the response of a candidate. This disproportionately affects women and people of color, as they either undervalue themselves in initial inquiries or are chronically underpaid.

This new regulation empowers the people to stop this practice of pay inequality and start paying people by what they do, not who they are. I encourage us to seek out this type of legislation for the City of Seattle to stop this predatory practice and force companies to pay people what they are worth!

The full text of the California legislation can be found at https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=201720180AB168.

Write or call your councilmember TODAY to make this a reality! If you live in Leschi or the surrounding area, your councilmember is Kshama Sawant. You can reach her at Kshama.Sawant@seattle.gov or 206-684-8016.

~Trevor Lalish-Menagh