MAY 2018 • FOGHORN 35 LEGAL Let MCM manage your insurance so you can focus on your voyage MCM is a leading independent insurance brokerage based in the Pacific Northwest. Our marine practice group has more than 100 years of combined experience placing insurance and managing the marine industry’s unique risks. Whether we’re working with vessel operators, builders, repair facilities or suppliers, we create specialized solutions that meet each client’s needs. EMpLoyEE BEnEfits | ExECutivE BEnEfits | REtiREMEnt pLans insuRanCE advisoRy | pRopERty & CasuaLty Contact Damon L. Nasman at (206) 262-6375 or email damon.nasman@mcmnw.com www.mcmnw.com WINDOWS DOORS HATCHES CEILING & WALL PANELS ACOUSTIC FIRE RATED WEATHERTIGHT WATERTIGHT WOOD & METAL HONEYCOMB VINYL & RESIN FLOORS MARINE FLOORING SYSTEMS CABIN & GALLEY FURNITURE Pointing to Perfection Director: Steve Hadik (207) 841-5083 shadik@psmaritime.com | www.psmaritime.com E mployment trends and statutory enactments come in waves – with employment trends seeming to wax and wane in two- to three-year cycles. For two years, it’s all about “violence in the workplace,” followed by two years of “bullying in the workplace,” followed by two years of LGBT employment statutes, followed by two years of “mandatory paid sick leave”… and for 2018, the groundswell focuses on the propriety of asking employees about their past wage rates. That is, there’s a marked 2018 trend to prohibit employers from asking applicants about their past earning histories. Already, at least five states or ter- ritories – so far – (Oregon, Delaware, California, Massachusetts and Puerto Rico) now bar employers from asking job applicants about their wage histories. Joining these identified states are a number of individual cities (e.g., Albany, New York City, San Francisco, Philadelphia (currently stayed pending resolution of court action)) which have likewise prohibited employers from requesting information about an ap- plicant’s prior pay or benefit history. Bills have been introduced in other legislatures (e.g., Maryland) with labor interests actively seeking support in legislatures throughout the country. Many state and local jurisdictions (e.g., New York State, New Jersey, New Orleans, Pittsburgh), have enacted statutes which prohibit any pre-hiring request by state agencies or govern- mental departments concerning past wages. Jurisdictions enacting wage question prohibitions have justified the prohibition on the theory that past wage information, when made known to a new employer, has the impact of perpetuating wage and benefit dis- crimination against minorities and women. The reasoning claims that a blind hiring system is more likely to remedy systemic wage discrimination experienced by minority populations and women. As the theory continues, employers noting lower wage histories will, in turn, offer lower wages to the applicant, even if current employees are being paid at a higher rate. Riding the Employment Waves: Prohibiting Questions About Past Wages in 2018 By Steven Bers, Whiteford Taylor & Preston, LLP, PV A General Counsel