Kansas City salary history ban for employers (2026): Code 38-102, what you can't ask and what you can

Kansas City, Missouri's salary history ban is section 38-102 of the city's Code of Ordinances, created by Ordinance 190380 and in effect since October 31, 2019. It makes it unlawful for an employer with six or more employees, or its agent, to ask about an applicant's salary history, screen applicants on current or prior pay, rely on salary history in deciding whether to hire or what to offer, or penalize an applicant for not disclosing it. Discussing pay expectations, including unvested equity or deferred pay the applicant would forfeit, is expressly allowed.

As of November 2026, section 38-102 reads as enacted in 2019, but two things around it have changed. The maximum fine in section 38-101(a) is now $1,000, up from $500. And the definitions the 2019 ordinance added to section 38-1, including "applicant," "inquire" and "salary history," are no longer in the codified chapter. This page gives the current text, what those changes mean in practice, and a script you can use on Kansas City roles.

What does Kansas City Code section 38-102 prohibit?

Section 38-102(a) makes it unlawful "for an employer or agent to":

1. "Inquire about the salary history of an applicant for employment";
2. "Screen job applicants based on their current or prior wages, benefits, or other compensation, or salary histories, including requiring that an applicant's prior wages, benefits, other compensation or salary history satisfy minimum or maximum criteria";
3. "Rely on the salary history of an applicant in deciding whether to offer employment to an applicant, or in determining the salary, benefits, or other compensation for such applicant during the hiring process, including the negotiation of an employment contract"; or
4. "Refuse to hire or otherwise disfavor, injure or retaliate against an applicant for not disclosing his or her salary history to an employer."

The City Council passed the Committee Substitute for Ordinance 190380 on May 23, 2019; its Section 2 made it effective October 31, 2019. The section's history note on Municode cites no later amendment.

What is still allowed?

Section 38-102(b) lets an employer or its agent, "without inquiring about salary history, engage in discussion with the applicant about the 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 virtue of the applicant's resignation from their current employer." Section 38-102(c) says the prohibitions do not apply to:

• applicants for internal transfer or promotion with their current employer;
• "A voluntary and unprompted disclosure of salary history information by an applicant";
• verifying non-salary information or conducting a background check, but if that "discloses the applicant's salary history, such disclosure shall not be relied upon" to set pay during hiring;
• positions whose pay is set by procedures established through collective bargaining; and
• applicants rehired within five years of their most recent termination, when the employer already has their past salary data.

The unprompted-disclosure exception removes the volunteered number from the prohibitions; it is not an invitation to steer the conversation toward it. The background check exception is narrower: the report may be run, but any pay it shows may not be used.

Who is covered?

• Employers with six or more employees. Section 38-1(a)(14): "Employer includes any person employing six or more employees." The chapter's definition of person excludes "any local, state or federal governmental entity."
• Agents. The prohibitions apply to "an employer or agent," so recruiters, search firms and staffing agencies working for a covered employer are bound when they screen for it.
• Kansas City, Missouri employers. The Civil Rights and Equal Opportunity Department (CREO) asks complainants to confirm that "The business is located in Kansas City, Missouri" and that "The employer has 6 or more employees (for employment cases)" on its Civil Rights Division page. Kansas City, Kansas is a separate city; see Kansas salary history rules.
• Applicants, not current employees moving internally. Internal transfers and promotions are excepted.
• Remote roles. The code does not address remote work. A remote hire who will work from a state with its own ban brings that state's rule as well; see salary history ban states.

Which definitions changed, and why does it matter?

Ordinance 190380 added definitions to section 38-1. "Applicant" meant "any person applying for employment with an employer located in Kansas City, Missouri." "Inquire" meant any question or statement to the applicant, the applicant's current or prior employers, or their employees or agents "for the purpose of obtaining an applicant's salary history," or "to conduct a search of publicly available records or reports" for that purpose, but not telling the applicant the position's pay or range. "Salary history" meant "current or prior wages, benefits, or other compensation," excluding objective productivity measures such as revenue or sales reports. "Employment" included temporary, part-time, contingent and commission work and work through a temporary or other employment agency.

Section 38-1 has since been repealed and re-enacted several times. The versions enacted by Ordinance 231019 and Ordinance 240082 in 2024, and the current codified section, contain none of those four definitions. Section 38-102 still uses the words. Until the city restores the definitions or a tribunal reads the terms, the cautious course is to keep following the 2019 meanings: no pay questions to references or former employers, no salary searches in public records or pay databases, and the range itself shared freely.

How is the ban enforced, and what are the penalties?

• Complaints. CREO's director enforces every section of Chapter 38 (section 38-21). Under section 38-23, a complaint must be filed within 180 days after the practice could have been discovered through reasonable diligence. CREO's page lists the myKCMO app ("Discrimination Report"), [email protected], 816-513-1836, or a paper questionnaire delivered to City Hall, 414 E. 12th St., Suite 404.
• Fines. Section 38-101(a) lists section 38-102 among the prohibited discriminatory practices and makes a violation an ordinance violation "punishable by a fine of not more than $1,000.00, by imprisonment of not more than 180 days, or by such fine and imprisonment." When the ban took effect the ceiling was $500; Ordinance 231019, passed January 25, 2024 with its Chapter 38 changes effective August 1, 2024, set the $1,000 figure the code shows today.
• Prosecution. With probable cause, the director may refer the matter to the city counselor's office for prosecution in municipal court (section 38-21).
• Business license. Section 38-35 allows suspension of the violator's business license for up to 30 days after a final determination of any chapter violation, and revocation after a third within five years.

How does Kansas City's ban fit with Missouri and federal law?

• No state ban. Missouri has no statewide salary history law, as our Missouri salary history guide explains.
• No preemption found. RSMo 290.528 bars cities from requiring minimum wages or employment benefits above state law, which is a different subject. 2025 bills that would have extended it to local rules on what employers request or exclude on job applications (HB 443, last action a referral to the Rules committee on May 13, 2025, and SB 325) did not become law, and the Revisor still shows section 290.528 as last amended in 2017.
• Equal pay. Missouri's RSMo 290.410 and the federal Equal Pay Act, 29 U.S.C. § 206(d)(1), apply everywhere. The EEOC's Compliance Manual, Section 10 says "Prior salary cannot, by itself, justify a compensation disparity."
• Pay ranges. Missouri has no pay range posting law; see Missouri pay transparency for the Illinois and remote-role overlaps.

What should recruiters and staffing agencies do on Kansas City roles?

1. At intake, confirm the employer is located in Kansas City, Missouri and has six or more employees, and get the pay range in writing before sourcing.
2. Remove current-pay and pay-history fields from applications, portals and screening forms, including "minimum current salary" knockouts.
3. Ask about expectations, never history; see salary expectation questions.
4. Tell reference checkers and background screening vendors not to collect pay. If a report shows pay anyway, keep it out of the offer.
5. Use a candidate submittal with an expectation field, not a current-salary field.
6. Who sends which notice: the ordinance requires none. The practical duty is internal: agree with the client in writing that neither side will ask for or pass along pay history for Kansas City roles.

Kansas City also limits when employers may ask about criminal history; see our Kansas City ban-the-box guide.

Template: Kansas City pay conversation script and vendor instruction

KANSAS CITY, MO PAY CONVERSATION (Code 38-102) - example wording

Opening:
  "The range for this role is $[low] to $[high] plus [benefits]. What are you
  looking for in base pay, and is there anything you'd give up by leaving,
  like an unvested bonus or equity?"

If the candidate starts to share current pay:
  "You don't need to tell me what you earn now. What matters is what you'd
  need to make this move."

If the client asks for current pay:
  "Kansas City's ordinance covers us as your agent, so I can't ask or look it
  up. Here is her expectation and what she would forfeit."

Instruction to reference checkers and screening vendors:
  "Kansas City, Missouri role (Code 38-102). Do not request or report current
  or past salary, bonus, benefits or other compensation. Verify dates and
  titles only."

Kansas City salary history rules at a glance