New law bans California employers from asking applicants their prior salary

Re:New law bans California employers from asking applicants ... by ianai on Wednesday October 18, 2017 @04:38PM (#15502777)

Actually in this case it’s the buyers of labor (employers) that have all the market power. Denything them this additional information gives the producers of labor an edge through asymmetric information, theoretically. In practice, I don’t buy it. Sophisticated entities with lots of resources (aka employers) will always find a way to game any situation to their benefit. They could simply use this as a reason to pay everyone less.

I’m all for empowering employees but this doesn’t seem like quite an improvement.

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Re:New law bans California employers from asking applicants ... by cortesoft on Wednesday October 18, 2017 @04:57PM (#15503007)

It isn't just an information problem, it is a leverage problem. Suppose a company has 100 employees; if an employee leaves, they are down 1/100 of their productivity while they find a replacement. If an employee if fired, they are down somewhere between 50% and 100% of their income, depending on family status.

A single job is simply more vital to an employee than it is to a company, so the company has the leverage.

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Re:New law bans California employers from asking applicants ... by ryandrake on Wednesday October 18, 2017 @05:25PM (#15503294)

Also, when an employee leaves a company, there's usually a line of 100 others out the door who would love to have the job. The reverse isn't as often true--that there's a line of 100 employers fighting to pick up that employee.

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Re:New law bans California employers from asking applicants ... by ianai on Wednesday October 18, 2017 @05:15PM (#15503195)

Yet another reason I don’t think this will make a dent into anything.

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