Men and women who do the same work are paid about the same, since profit-maximizing businesses don't want to overpay men. Women take breaks in their careers to raise families and differ from men in the kinds of jobs they want, which largely explains the pay differentials that do exist.
Looks like the Massachusetts legislature is assuming the role of a third party collective bargainer.
IMHO, that's none of their damn business. It's a cheap trick to the detriment of the expected employee.
An unnecessary law. I never discussed my previous salary/rate. It has always been “I think this position and the job and responsibilities as described is worth X”. And stick to that line.
Never had an offer turned down because of that strategy yet!
I’m all for it as I have taken the brunt of the “tricks of the trade”. Employers brought this on themselves (donning flameproof undies). Under the guise of “bargaining”, I went through the following drills and wised up very fast.
The first time I answered truthfully, the answer was “We can’t beat that but we will review it after you’ve been here a year.”
Next time I added $5,000 to my current wage and when they pulled that routine, I said “OK” - left the next year when they said “things are tough and we can’t give you a raise”. That was after my team and I saved them $250,000 by devising/coding an Automatic Storage and Retrieval System.
During my searches, I found that some outfits weren’t really looking for people, just wanted to get info to establish a pay schedule.
On a couple, when I knew I didn’t want the job, when they asked that question, I’d ask what the responsibilities would be. The tap-dancing that went on would have made Fred Astaire jealous.
The ones that really ticked me off were those who thought I was retired military (I had worked as a civilian at Camp Pendleton). “Well, since you are retired, you already have one income so we can’t(???) offer you a higher wage.” I asked them that since they paid on perceived need, did they pay a guy who had eight kids more than one who had only one? Pained silence - and then the interview was over.
Finally got into a company that recognized good work and paid accordingly. Stayed with them 17 years until I went into contracting.