Is it Legal for companies to ask applicants for their last pay stub? 06-16-99

Rita Risser's response:

Asking for the last pay stub is a fairly common practice. The reason is to confirm what you put on your application as your current salary. Many companies will not verify this information for prospective employers, so it is up to the employee to provide the proof.

Generally, it is an invasion of privacy for the company to ask to see a tax return to verify the amount. Showing a pay stub is a minimal invasion, since you have already put this at issue by applying for a job and giving them the information.

There is no federal law on this, but there may be a specific state law that prohibits this, so to be absolutely sure you should contact a local attorney.

From a fairness perspective, in my opinion companies should not ask what you made in your last job. What relevance does that have to anything? Some HR people say that you can tell how important the job was by the pay scale. Maybe, but what someone is paid depends on lots of factors, such as the community they live in, the pay practices of the particular employer, whether there is discrimination in pay by their former company, etc. For example, for years Intel had a reputation of paying poorly, and HP of paying well. Should a former Intel employee somehow be penalized for that? Pay should be based on what the job is worth, and what abilities the applicant brings to the job. Your former pay has nothing to do with either of those factors.

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