Louisiana salary history ban: no state law, but New Orleans covers city hiring and city contractors

Louisiana has no statewide law that bars private employers from asking job candidates about their salary history, as of October 2026. The most recent attempt, SB 205 of the 2025 regular session, was heard in the Senate Labor and Industrial Relations Committee on May 14, 2025 and never left it, according to the Legislature's bill record. New Orleans fills part of the gap: its code bars the city's own hiring staff from asking, and it requires every business that signs a covered city contract, and its subcontractors, to certify that it does not ask, screen on, or rely on salary history. For a private employer, that contract certification is the Louisiana rule most likely to bind you.

Is it illegal to ask about salary history in Louisiana?

Not under state law. SB 205 would have added a wage history rule to Title 23 of the Revised Statutes (labor) as a new R.S. 23:333, and we found no existing Louisiana statute that does the same. Private employers may ask, unless they are New Orleans city contractors or the job falls under another state's law. Louisiana's other hiring rules are in hiring employees in Louisiana.

What would SB 205 have done?

SB 205, by Senator Gary Carter, would have made it "an unlawful employment practice for an employer to inquire about or rely on the wage history of an applicant" by:

• screening applicants on current or prior wages, benefits or other compensation, including requiring prior pay to meet minimum or maximum criteria;
• relying on wage history in deciding whether to offer employment or in setting pay during hiring, including negotiation; or
• refusing to hire, or otherwise disfavoring or retaliating against, an applicant who does not disclose it.

It also would have barred retaliation against employees who discuss wages. The Legislature's page still shows it "Pending Senate Labor and Industrial Relations - Considered 5/14/25"; it was not enacted. We found no wage history bill in the 2026 regular session.

What changed for public jobs in 2026?

One thing, and it is about ranges rather than history. Act 534 of 2026 (HB 202) enacts R.S. 42:375.1, effective August 1, 2026: "The Department of State Civil Service shall list the salary or salary range within each job announcement for a vacant classified position," and must tell rejected applicants that they were rejected or that the vacancy was filled. It does not cover private employers and does not address salary history.

Does New Orleans have a salary history ban?

Yes, for the city's own hiring. City Code section 2-14, from Ordinance 28215 of October 17, 2019, says no officer, employee or agent of the City of New Orleans shall:

• inquire about an applicant's salary history, which includes asking current or former employers and searching public records for it;
• screen applicants on current or prior pay;
• rely on salary history in deciding whether to offer a job or in setting pay; or
• refuse to hire, disfavor or retaliate against an applicant who does not disclose it.

Telling an applicant the position's salary or range is not an inquiry, and neither is salary history the applicant provides "unilaterally and voluntarily." Once an offer with a proposed salary is made, the applicant "may offer information about salary history in order to negotiate a higher salary." The chief administrative office enforces the section, and it creates no private right of action. It covers classified and unclassified city positions only.

Do New Orleans city contractors have to follow it?

Yes, and this is the part private employers miss. City Code sections 70-511 to 70-513, from Ordinance 28302, adopted January 30, 2020 and effective April 1, 2020, say the city and its departments, agencies, boards and commissions shall not enter into a covered contract "unless the contracting party certifies that it does not engage in prohibited salary history practices and will not engage in prohibited salary history practices for the term of the contract." The prohibition "shall extend to any subcontractors performing work pursuant to the contract."

As written, the certification is about the contracting party's practices during the contract, not only about the people assigned to the city work. If you bid on city work, align your process before you sign. Criminal history and credit report rules for city contractors are summarized in Louisiana background check laws.

We searched the Baton Rouge and East Baton Rouge Parish, Shreveport, Lafayette and Jefferson Parish codes on Municode for "salary history" and "wage history" in October 2026 and found no comparable provision.

Which federal rules apply in Louisiana?

• The Equal Pay Act. 29 U.S.C. 206(d)(1) allows a pay difference between the sexes for equal work only under a seniority, merit or production system or "a differential based on any other factor other than sex," which the employer must prove.
• The EEOC's position on prior pay. The EEOC Compliance Manual section on compensation discrimination, issued in 2000 and still on eeoc.gov as of October 2026, says "Prior salary cannot, by itself, justify a compensation disparity."
• Title VII. 42 U.S.C. 2000e-2(a) bars compensation discrimination by employers with 15 or more employees.

For a remote role filled from a state with a ban, that state's law governs the question; the list is in salary history ban states.

What should staffing agencies in Louisiana do?

• Ask clients about city contracts. If you place workers who perform work under a New Orleans professional services, public works or tax-incentive agreement, the prohibition extends to subcontractors performing work under it. Get the client's answer in writing at intake.
• Use one process. A no-history process for every Louisiana desk avoids having to sort contract work from other work.
• Remove the fields. Drop current salary from intake forms and the candidate submittal template; record expectations instead.
• Mind the basics. Agency licensing and work authorization are covered in Louisiana staffing agency licensing and E-Verify requirements in Louisiana.

A Louisiana script

Opening the pay topic

"The range for this position is $48,000 to $55,000 (example figures). What are you looking for?" Further wording is in salary expectation questions.

When the candidate volunteers current pay on a New Orleans contract role

"Thanks, but we don't use current pay to set offers on this work. What would you need to accept?" Then leave the figure out of your notes.

When the client asks what the candidate earns now

"Your city contract certification covers salary history, so we don't collect it. Her expectation is $54,000."

Louisiana summary

Louisiana checklist

1. Find out whether you, or a client you staff, holds a covered New Orleans contract.
2. If so, stop asking about pay history anywhere in your hiring, from the applicant or from references, and do not search public salary records.
3. Everywhere else, adopt the same practice by policy: share the range and ask for expectations.
4. Keep volunteered figures out of notes and submittals; see what not to write in interview notes.
5. Document the job-related reasons for each offer so the Equal Pay Act defense does not rest on prior pay.