California Labor Code section 432.3 does two things: it bars employers from asking job applicants about their salary history or using that history to set pay, and it requires employers to disclose pay scale information to applicants, to current employees, and, for larger employers, in every job posting.
What Employers Cannot Ask or Use
An employer cannot ask you about your prior compensation. The ban covers any form of the question, spoken or written, asked directly by the employer or routed through a recruiter, staffing agency, or other agent. It reaches both salary and benefits from previous jobs.
The prohibition is not only about the question. Even if an employer learns your prior pay without asking, it cannot use that information to decide whether to hire you or to set what you’ll be paid. This is where many employers get into trouble: knowing the number and relying on it is itself a violation.
What an employer can ask is what you’re hoping to earn. Your expectations for the role are fair game. Your history is not.
Your Right to the Pay Scale
The disclosure rules work on three tracks, depending on who you are and how big the employer is.
If You’re Applying for a Job
Any employer in California, regardless of size, must give you the pay scale for the position you’re applying for when you make a reasonable request. The statute doesn’t attach special timing conditions, so the right applies whenever you’re genuinely in the running for a role.
If You Already Work There
Current employees have the right to the pay scale for the position they currently hold. There’s no “reasonable” qualifier here. If you ask, your employer has to provide it. Many workers don’t know this provision exists, and it’s useful if you suspect your pay sits below the range the company has set for your job.
If You’re Reading a Job Posting
Employers with 15 or more employees must include the pay scale in every job posting. That duty follows the job even when a third party does the posting: the employer has to supply the range to the recruiter, staffing agency, or job board, and the third party has to publish it. The 15-employee count includes workers everywhere, but at least one must be in California, and a remote role that could be filled from California triggers the requirement even if the employer is based elsewhere.
What a Pay Scale Actually Means
The statute defines pay scale as a good faith estimate of the salary or hourly wage range the employer reasonably expects to pay for the position upon hire. A posting that advertises $30,000 to $300,000 for a mid-level job wouldn’t qualify, because it isn’t a good faith estimate. The range has to reflect what the employer actually anticipates paying.
When You Volunteer Your Own Salary History
Nothing stops you from bringing up your prior pay on your own. If you do so without being prompted, the employer may consider it in setting your compensation. The word that matters is “voluntarily.” An employer that engineers pressure to get the information out of you hasn’t received a voluntary disclosure.
And even voluntary disclosure has a ceiling. Your old salary cannot be used to justify a pay gap that would violate California’s Equal Pay Act. Telling an employer you earned less at your last job does not entitle them to pay you less than coworkers doing substantially similar work.
Who the Law Covers, and Who It Doesn’t
Section 432.3 applies to every employer in California, including state and local government and the Legislature. An “applicant” is someone seeking employment who does not already work for that employer in any capacity, which means internal transfers and promotions fall outside the salary history ban.
The ban also doesn’t reach compensation information that is already public under federal or state law. Salaries disclosed through the California Public Records Act or the federal Freedom of Information Act, most often those of government employees, aren’t off-limits in the same way.
If you ask about your pay, discuss it with coworkers, or help others exercise these rights, you’re protected from retaliation. An adverse action within 90 days of that activity is presumed retaliatory, and the employer has to prove otherwise. A retaliation claim can be filed in civil court within one year of the retaliatory act.
Penalties for Violations
The Labor Commissioner can impose civil penalties of $100 to $10,000 per violation, with the amount tied to the circumstances, including whether the employer has violated the law before.
There is one break on the job posting requirement. For a first violation, no penalty is assessed if the employer can show that all open job postings have been updated to include the required pay scale. That grace disappears after the first offense.
How to File a Complaint
If you think an employer has violated section 432.3, you can file a written complaint with the Labor Commissioner within one year of learning about the violation. The complaint should include the employer’s name and address and a detailed account of what happened.1California Legislative Information. California Labor Code 432.3
Complaints can be submitted online through the Department of Industrial Relations or in person at the Labor Commissioner’s office nearest to where the violation occurred. No Social Security number or photo identification is required.2Department of Industrial Relations. Report a Labor Law Violation
You can also skip the administrative route and go straight to court. A civil action lets you seek an injunction ordering the employer to comply, along with any other relief the court considers appropriate.1California Legislative Information. California Labor Code 432.3