“I do not agree with this. A potential employer needs all the info it can get to avoid hiring a turkey:”
How does knowing prior salary prevent that?
Think of it this way: Salary is confidential, so companies are demanding confidential information. Most companies would be pissed if you told people what you make and consider it a violation of your non disclosure agreement.
“We’ll hire you, but first you must violate ethics and give us confidential information of your last employers.”
Gov't. employees have salary information available to the public. Certain CA Web sites show it.
Not only is salary confidential, but one job early in a woman’s career where she is grossly underpaid can set her up for job after job with low pay. After several different jobs as a project manager in construction, I finally got smart and refused to give my salary. I asked them to tell me what someone with my credentials and experience is worth to them. It paid off immensely.