Minnesota Human Rights Act — employer coverage threshold
The Minnesota Human Rights Act (MHRA) applies to every employer with one or more employees. Unlike federal anti-discrimination laws that impose employee-count thresholds (Title VII requires 15; the ADA requires 15; the ADEA requires 20), Minnesota law covers employers of all sizes. An "employer" is defined as "a person who has one or more employees." The Act prohibits discrimination in hiring, tenure, compensation, and other employment decisions based on race, color, creed, religion, national origin, sex, gender identity, marital status, status with regard to public assistance, familial status, disability, sexual orientation, age, and membership or activity in a local commission.
Source: Minn. Stat. § 363A.03, subd. 16; Minn. Stat. § 363A.08
Salary history inquiry ban — scope and exceptions
Minnesota prohibits employers, employment agencies, and labor organizations from inquiring into, considering, or requiring the disclosure from any source of an applicant's pay history for the purpose of determining compensation. This ban took effect January 1, 2024, and is codified as subdivision 8 of Minn. Stat. § 363A.08, making pay history inquiries an unfair employment practice under the Minnesota Human Rights Act (MHRA).
"Pay history" definition. The statute defines "pay history" as "any prior or current wage, salary, earnings, benefits, or any other compensation about an applicant for employment." The definition is broad — it encompasses not only base salary but all forms of compensation.
Covered entities and applicants. The prohibition applies to every employer (regardless of size, consistent with the MHRA's one-employee threshold), employment agency, and labor organization operating in Minnesota. "Applicant for employment" includes both external job candidates and current employees seeking an internal promotion or transfer.
What the ban prohibits. An employer may not:
- Ask an applicant directly about their current or past compensation;
- Require disclosure of pay history on an application form;
- Inquire into pay history from third-party sources (such as prior employers or background-check services);
- Consider pay history obtained from any source when determining the applicant's wages, salary, benefits, or other compensation.
The statute prohibits employers from using pay history "for the purpose of determining wages, salary, earnings, benefits, or other compensation" for the applicant. This purposive language means that even if pay history is discovered incidentally, relying on it to set compensation violates the law.
Public-record exception. The ban does not apply if the applicant's pay history is a matter of public record under federal or state law — unless the employer seeks access to those public records "with the intent" to obtain pay history for the purpose of determining compensation. In other words, employers cannot evade the ban by pulling publicly available salary data (for example, from government employee databases) if the purpose is to anchor the applicant's offer.
Voluntary disclosure. If an applicant "voluntarily and without asking, encouraging, or prompting" discloses their pay history to the employer, the employer is permitted to consider or act on that information — but only "to support a wage or salary higher than initially offered." The employer cannot use voluntarily disclosed pay history to justify a lower offer or to withdraw or reduce a pending offer. The statute's asymmetry is deliberate: voluntary disclosure can help an applicant negotiate up, but cannot be weaponized by the employer to suppress wages.
Enforcement. Violations are treated as unfair employment practices under the MHRA. An individual who is asked about pay history during the hiring process is an "aggrieved party" with a right to file a charge with the Minnesota Department of Human Rights or to bring a civil action in state or federal court. Remedies under the MHRA include back pay, compensatory damages, and in some cases punitive damages and attorney fees. Notably, the applicant does not need to prove membership in a protected class or that the inquiry was otherwise discriminatory; the pay history inquiry itself is a per se violation.
Union positions. For employees covered by a collective bargaining agreement in effect on January 1, 2024, the ban does not apply until the date of implementation of a successor collective bargaining agreement negotiated after that date.
Source: Minn. Stat. § 363A.08, subd. 8