Florida salary history ban: no state law, and what applies instead (2026)
On this page
- Is there a salary history ban in Florida?
- Do Florida cities or counties have their own rules?
- What Florida law does limit the use of prior pay?
- What federal law applies to pay history in Florida?
- When does another state's ban apply to a Florida search?
- Florida at a glance
- What should a Florida recruiter ask instead?
- A Florida script
- Checklist for Florida searches
- Questions people ask
Florida has no salary history ban. As of October 2026, no Florida statute stops a private employer, staffing agency or recruiter from asking what a candidate earns or from using the answer, and we found no city or county ordinance that does. The one 2025 bill that would have created a ban, House Bill 1619, died in a House subcommittee. What still limits the use of prior pay is federal equal pay law, the Florida Civil Rights Act, and other states' bans when the hire will work outside Florida.
Not legal advice. This page summarizes the Florida Statutes and bill records published by the Florida Legislature and the federal sources linked below, as of October 2026. Check the current text and talk to Florida counsel before relying on it for a specific decision.
Is there a salary history ban in Florida?
No. Florida's employment discrimination statute, the Florida Civil Rights Act at section 760.10, lists unlawful employment practices and says nothing about asking for pay history. Our guide to hiring employees in Florida and Florida background check laws page reached the same result.
The Legislature's own records show the gap. House Bill 1619 of the 2025 session, "Employee Wages and Salary," was filed on February 28, 2025. Its official summary says it would have prohibited a "public employer, private employer, or employment agency from engaging in certain activities," set out when an employer could confirm a prospective employee's wage or salary history, and added record-keeping duties and civil penalties. It was referred to three House committees, withdrawn from consideration on May 3, 2025, and recorded as having died in the Industries and Professional Activities Subcommittee on June 16, 2025. A search of the 2026 session's bills on the Senate's site for "wage history" and "salary history" turned up no comparable bill.
Do Florida cities or counties have their own rules?
We found none that reach private employers. Florida's 2024 employment preemption law, House Bill 433 (chapter 2024-80), bars local minimum wages, local preferences based on contractors' wages or benefits, and, in section 448.106, local heat exposure rules. It does not mention questions asked during hiring. Check the city's code before a search in case that changes.
What Florida law does limit the use of prior pay?
Section 448.07, Florida's own equal pay statute
Section 448.07 says no employer "shall discriminate between employees on the basis of sex by paying wages" at a lower rate for equal work, unless the difference comes from seniority, merit, a production system, or "any reasonable factor other than sex when exercised in good faith." It covers any employer with two or more employees, including the state and local governments, and subsection (2)(b) also bars any person from causing or attempting to cause an employer to discriminate, which can reach a recruiter who pushes a client to anchor an offer low.
The catch is subsection (4): the section does not apply to an employer "subject to the federal Fair Labor Standards Act." That leaves it for the small group of employers outside federal wage law. Where it does apply, an employee can recover the pay difference for up to one year before the claim, and must sue within six months after the employment ends.
The Florida Civil Rights Act
Section 760.10(1)(a) makes it unlawful for an employer to discriminate "with respect to compensation" because of race, color, religion, sex, pregnancy, national origin, age, handicap or marital status. It covers employers with 15 or more employees under section 760.02(7). A pay gap that started with a low anchor from a candidate's old salary is the kind of claim it reaches.
What federal law applies to pay history in Florida?
- The Equal Pay Act, 29 U.S.C. § 206(d), allows a pay difference between the sexes for equal work only for seniority, merit, production, or "any other factor other than sex." This is the law most Florida employers are under, given section 448.07's carve-out.
- The EEOC's reading of prior pay. The EEOC Compliance Manual's section on compensation discrimination says "Prior salary cannot, by itself, justify a compensation disparity," although it can succeed if sex was not a factor and other factors were considered too.
- Title VII, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-2, bars discrimination in compensation at employers with 15 or more employees, the threshold in § 2000e(b).
- Federal contractors. The OFCCP pay transparency provision (41 CFR 60-1.35) is no longer in force. It rested on Executive Order 11246, which Executive Order 14173 revoked on January 21, 2025, and the Labor Department has since rescinded the order's regulations, including part 60-1, effective October 26, 2026 (91 FR 54444). The National Labor Relations Act still protects most private-sector employees who discuss their wages.
When does another state's ban apply to a Florida search?
Florida desks recruit heavily for clients and candidates in the Northeast, and that is where the bans are. A ban in the state where the hire will work can apply even though the employer and the recruiter are in Florida. A Tampa agency placing a remote analyst who will work from New Jersey should follow New Jersey's ban; a Miami firm hiring for a New York City office should follow New York's. Other common ones are California, Massachusetts and Illinois. The full list, with how each treats a volunteered figure, is on salary history ban states.
Pay range posting rules travel the same way; see pay transparency for remote jobs.
Florida at a glance
| Item | The rule as of October 2026 | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Statewide ban, private employers | None | Fla. Stat. § 760.10 |
| 2025 bill | HB 1619 died in subcommittee, June 16, 2025 | Bill page |
| 2026 bills | None found | 2026 bill search |
| City and county rules | None found for private employers | City codes |
| State equal pay statute | Two or more employees, but not employers covered by the FLSA | Fla. Stat. § 448.07 |
| Pay discrimination | Florida Civil Rights Act at 15 or more employees; Title VII; Equal Pay Act | § 760.02; 29 U.S.C. § 206(d) |
| Pay ranges in job ads | No Florida rule | Pay transparency laws by state |
What should a Florida recruiter ask instead?
The question that works everywhere is about the future: what the candidate wants, what would make them move, what they would give up by leaving (an unvested bonus, a retention payment). Asking about what they would forfeit is different from asking what they earn, and even the strict bans in Ohio's cities expressly allow it. Wording for each situation is in salary expectation questions, and answers to the questions candidates ask back are in how recruiters answer candidate salary questions.
Keep a number you did not ask for out of the record. A current salary in the submittal or the ATS follows the candidate to the next client, including clients in states where it may not be used.
A Florida script
Opening the pay topic
"This role pays $24 to $28 an hour, with health coverage from day one (example figures). What rate are you looking for?"
When the client insists on current pay
"Florida doesn't stop us asking, but we've stopped, because many of our candidates work for clients in states where it's banned, and it doesn't tell us whether the offer will land. His expectation is $27, inside your range."
When the candidate asks whether they have to answer
"No. We set offers from the range and from what you're looking for. You don't need to tell me what you earn now."
Checklist for Florida searches
- Confirm where the hire will work; if it is outside Florida, follow that state's rule.
- Get the client's range in writing before screening.
- Ask expectations and forfeited pay, not current pay, and keep pay off reference calls.
- Record the expectation, never a volunteered salary.
- Note the job-related reasons for each offer's place in the range.
Related Florida rules for the same searches: Florida staffing agency licensing, Florida E-Verify requirements and Florida call recording law for recruiters.
Questions people ask
Can employers in Florida ask about salary history?
Yes. As of October 2026, no Florida statute and no Florida city or county ordinance that we found bars a private employer or staffing agency from asking a candidate about current or past pay. Federal equal pay law and the Florida Civil Rights Act still limit how that number may be used to set pay.
Did Florida try to ban salary history questions in 2025?
Yes. House Bill 1619 of the 2025 session, titled Employee Wages and Salary, would have barred public employers, private employers and employment agencies from certain wage and salary history practices. It was withdrawn from consideration on May 3, 2025 and died in the House Industries and Professional Activities Subcommittee.
Does Florida have an equal pay law?
Yes, but a narrow one. Florida Statutes section 448.07 bars paying one sex less for equal work at employers with two or more employees, but subsection (4) says it does not apply to employers subject to the federal Fair Labor Standards Act. Most Florida employers are therefore governed by the federal Equal Pay Act and, at 15 or more employees, by the Florida Civil Rights Act.
Do I have to follow another state's salary history ban if I recruit from Florida?
Often, yes. When the person you hire will work from a state with a ban, such as New York, New Jersey or California, treat that state's rule as applying, even if your desk and your client are in Florida.