Cincinnati salary history ban for employers (2026): Chapter 804, the pay scale request and lawsuits

Cincinnati bars employers located in the city with 15 or more employees there, along with their agents and employment agencies, from asking job applicants about their salary history, screening them on it, relying on it to make or set an offer, or penalizing an applicant who will not disclose it. The rule is Cincinnati Municipal Code chapter 804, "Prohibited Salary History Inquiry and Use," enacted by Ordinance 83-2019 and in force since 2020, as of November 2026. It also gives an applicant with a conditional offer the right to ask for the job's pay scale. There is no city enforcement agency: applicants enforce it with a lawsuit filed within two years.

What does Cincinnati's salary history ban prohibit?

Section 804-03(a) makes it "an unlawful discriminatory practice for an employer or its agent" to:

1. "Inquire about the salary history of an applicant for employment";
2. screen applicants on current or prior wages, benefits, other compensation or salary history, including any minimum or maximum pay criteria;
3. rely on salary history in deciding whether to offer a job, or in setting salary, benefits or other compensation "during the hiring process, including the negotiation of an employment contract"; or
4. refuse to hire, disfavor, injure or retaliate against an applicant for not disclosing it.

"Salary history" covers "current or prior wage, benefits, or other compensation," so a question about last year's bonus or the value of a health plan is covered. "Inquire" reaches questions or statements to the applicant, to current or prior employers, or to their employees or agents, "for the purpose of obtaining an applicant's salary history," and searches of "publicly available records or reports" for that purpose. Telling the applicant the position's proposed salary or range is not an inquiry. Unlike Cleveland, which bans relying "solely" on pay history (see our Cleveland page), Cincinnati bans relying on it at all.

When did chapter 804 take effect, and has it changed?

City Council passed Ordinance 83-2019 on March 13, 2019, as the council's later Ordinance 34-2020 recites. Section 3 made the ordinance effective at "the earliest period allowed by law," and Municode's history notes record it as effective April 12, 2019. The chapter then delayed itself: section 804-09 says it "shall take effect 365 days after it becomes law," which by the code's date puts the start in April 2020. Some summaries count from the March 13, 2019 passage and give March 13, 2020. Either way, the ban has applied for more than six years.

The chapter's text has not changed since 2019; every section in the August 2026 code still cites only Ordinance 83-2019. Section 2 of that ordinance, which is not in the code, set up a Salary History implementation working group, chaired by the City Manager, "to assist and advise Cincinnati employers on the impact and implementation" of the law. Ordinance 34-2020, passed in February 2020, changed only that section, adding that its members must live or work in Cincinnati. Cincinnati has not added a pay range rule for job postings, as of November 2026.

Which employers, agencies and jobs are covered?

• Employers located in Cincinnati with 15 or more employees there. Section 804-01(c) covers businesses, nonprofits, labor organizations and public corporations, "or an agent thereof, located within the City of Cincinnati and using the services of fifteen or more employees for pay within the City." Both tests apply: a location in the city and 15 paid employees in the city.
• Employment agencies. "Employer" includes "job placement and referral agencies and other employment agencies," named outright. The code does not say whether an agency must itself have 15 employees in the city; an agency recruiting for a covered client is at least that client's agent, so treat the ban as applying.
• The City of Cincinnati is covered; other local, state and federal government employers are not.
• Jobs in the city. An applicant is anyone applying for work "to be performed within the geographic boundaries" of Cincinnati whose application is "solicited, received, processed, or considered" there, in whole or in part, "regardless of whether the applicant is interviewed." Temporary, seasonal, part-time, contract, contingent and commission work, and work through a temporary agency, all count; independent contractor work does not.

Coverage follows the job, not the candidate. A Kentucky or Indiana resident applying for a downtown Cincinnati job is protected; a Cincinnati resident hired to work in Mason or Covington is not, because the work is outside the city. For the cross-river cases, see Kentucky's salary history page and Indiana's.

What may a Cincinnati recruiter still ask or do?

• Expectations. Section 804-03(b) allows discussion of "expectations with respect to salary, benefits, and other compensation, including but not limited to unvested equity or deferred compensation that an applicant would forfeit or have cancelled" by resigning.
• Productivity figures. Salary history "does not include any objective measure of the applicant's productivity such as revenue, sales, or other production reports."
• Background checks. Verifying non-salary information is allowed, but pay a check turns up "shall not be relied upon" in setting compensation.
• Unprompted disclosures. "A voluntary and unprompted disclosure" is outside the ban. A question such as "is this range in line with what you make now?" prompts one.
• Other exceptions in 804-03(d): internal transfers and promotions; rehires within five years of the applicant's last termination, if the employer already has their pay data; collectively bargained positions; actions under a law that specifically authorizes relying on salary history; and government employers other than the City.
• The certification exception. Cincinnati alone exempts "any employer who, within the previous three years and before the action is filed against it, has received an external review and certification, and made the certification publicly available," that its practices do not include salary history in hiring. The code names no certifying body; it is a defense to a lawsuit, so keep the certificate and the public page that shows it.

How does the pay scale request work?

Section 804-03(c) says an employer, "upon reasonable request, shall provide the pay scale for a position" to an applicant who has received a conditional offer. The code does not define "pay scale," set a deadline or require writing. In practice:

1. Confirm that a conditional offer has been made; before that point the duty does not arise.
2. Send the range or step scale for the position, in writing, so there is a record.
3. Answer promptly; we suggest within a few days. "Reasonable" describes the request, not your reply, but a slow answer invites a dispute.
4. Do not ask for the applicant's current pay in return.

Nothing stops an employer from giving the range earlier, and giving it at the first call keeps the pay conversation on the employer's number; see how recruiters answer candidate salary questions.

How is the ban enforced?

Through the courts only. Section 804-05 gives the applicant "a private cause of action" against "the employer, employment agency, or employee or agent thereof" for "compensatory damages, reasonable attorney's fees, the costs of the action, and such legal and equitable relief as the court deems just and proper." The action must be "commenced within two years after the cause of action accrued." Two points matter for agencies: an individual recruiter, as an employee or agent, can be named, and there is no city cure period or warning letter before a lawsuit.

How does it fit with Ohio and federal law?

Ohio has no statewide salary history ban, and the state's other city rules are compared on our Ohio salary history page. No state law displaces Cincinnati's: R.C. 4113.85 reserves hours, scheduling, work location and fringe benefits to employer policy and says nothing about hiring questions, and the Legislative Service Commission's status report for the 136th General Assembly, current to October 30, 2026, lists no bill on salary history. Federally, the Equal Pay Act's "factor other than sex" defense (29 U.S.C. 206(d)) is the backdrop, and the EEOC's Compliance Manual says "Prior salary cannot, by itself, justify a compensation disparity." Ohio's own wage discrimination statute, R.C. 4111.17, applies statewide.

What do staffing agencies need to do for Cincinnati jobs?

• Treat the ban as your own. Agencies are named as employers and can be sued directly, as can their recruiters. A client's assurance that it "doesn't ask" does not cover the agency's own screening call.
• Check the client's footprint. The client must be located in Cincinnati with 15 or more paid employees there, and the job must be performed in the city.
• Clean the intake. Remove current-pay and pay-history fields from applications, screening scripts and the candidate submittal; send expectations instead.
• Old records. The five-year rehire exception belongs to the employer that rehires someone with its own pay data. A salary sitting in the agency's database from an earlier search is still salary history; do not pass it to the client.
• Handle the pay scale request. When a candidate with a conditional offer asks, get the scale from the client in writing and pass it on.
• Keep pay off reference calls. A question to a former employer about pay is an inquiry; use a reference script without one.

A Cincinnati script and pay scale reply

SCREENING CALL (example figures throughout)
  "This role pays $61,000 to $70,000 plus benefits. What are you
  hoping for, and would you forfeit anything by leaving, such as
  unvested equity or a retention bonus?"

IF THE CANDIDATE STARTS TO SHARE CURRENT PAY
  "You don't need to tell me that. Offers here are set from the
  range, not from past pay."

PAY SCALE REPLY AFTER A CONDITIONAL OFFER (email)
  Subject: Pay scale for [job title]
  Hi [name], as requested, the pay scale for [job title] at
  [employer] is $61,000 to $70,000 a year. Your conditional offer of
  $66,000 sits within it. Benefits are summarized in the attached
  offer letter. Let me know if you have questions.

Cincinnati chapter 804 at a glance

A Cincinnati checklist

1. Confirm the employer is located in Cincinnati with 15 or more paid employees there and the job is performed in the city.
2. Remove pay history questions from forms, scripts, reference calls and background check orders.
3. Ask about expectations and forfeited pay; wording is in salary expectation questions.
4. Keep volunteered figures out of notes and submittals; see what not to write in interview notes.
5. Have the pay scale ready in writing for every conditional offer.
6. If you rely on the certification exception, keep the certificate current (within three years) and public.

Nearby rules: Toledo's salary history ban uses almost the same text, and other states are compared on salary history ban states.