North Dakota salary history ban: no state law, and a reference statute that shields employers who share wage history

North Dakota has no law that bars employers from asking job candidates about their salary history, as of November 2026. The 2025 Legislative Assembly's subject index lists no salary history bill, and the last attempt, House Bill 1434 in 2021, failed on the House floor 14 to 80. North Dakota law actually points the other way: N.D.C.C. 34-02-18 makes an employer that truthfully tells a prospective employer a current or former employee's "pay level" and "wage history" immune from civil liability for doing so. The limits on using pay history come from the state equal pay chapter, N.D.C.C. 34-06.1, the Human Rights Act, federal law, and Minnesota's ban for jobs across the Red River.

Is it illegal to ask about salary history in North Dakota?

No. The Century Code has no provision barring the question for private or public employers, and the 2025 session did not add one: the Legislative Assembly's 2025 subject index for labor and employment lists bills on apprenticeships, state employee leave, criminal history checks and a minimum wage resolution, but none on salary history or pay ranges. Our North Dakota pay transparency page reached the same result for pay ranges. The only Century Code section we found that names wage history is the reference statute below.

Other North Dakota hiring rules are in our guide to hiring employees in North Dakota and North Dakota background check laws.

What does N.D.C.C. 34-02-18 let former employers share?

Section 34-02-18, "Immunity for providing employment reference," has two tiers:

• Facts, including pay. Subsection 1: "An employer, or an employer's agent, who truthfully discloses date of employment, pay level, job description and duties, and wage history about a current or former employee to a prospective employer of the employee is immune from civil liability for the disclosure and the consequences of the disclosure of that information."
• Opinions on performance. Subsection 2: an employer that discloses information about job performance is "presumed to be acting in good faith," and the presumption can be rebutted by a preponderance of the evidence that the information was knowingly false, disclosed with reckless disregard for the truth, deliberately misleading, or "Rendered with malicious purpose." Subsection 3 removes that immunity for information disclosed in violation of a nondisclosure agreement or otherwise confidential under applicable law.

For a recruiter, this means a North Dakota reference call that asks "what was she paid?" is lawful, and the former employer that answers truthfully is protected. It does not oblige the former employer to answer, it does not make the number a sound basis for an offer, and it does not help when the job is in Minnesota, whose ban covers pay history obtained "from any source." Our South Dakota page shows how much narrower that state's reference statute is.

What would HB 1434 have changed?

House Bill 1434 of the 2021 session, "relating to compensation history of prospective employees," would have done two things, according to its introduced text:

• added to 34-02-18 that "An employer or agent of an employer may not disclose to a prospective employer the wage history of a current or former employee unless specifically requested by the prospective employer"; and
• created a new section barring an employer or its agent from seeking an applicant's compensation history from the applicant or a current or former employer, requiring it to meet minimum or maximum criteria, or requiring it as a condition of employment, with exceptions for unprompted disclosure and internal applicants, civil damages of the greater of actual damages or $1,000 to $5,000 for a first or second offense and $5,000 to $10,000 after that, and a defense for an employer whose agent was told the rules and instructed to comply.

The House Industry, Business and Labor Committee reported it "do not pass" by 12 to 2, and on February 15, 2021 it "failed to pass, yeas 14 nays 80," according to the bill actions.

What limits using prior pay in North Dakota?

The equal pay chapter, N.D.C.C. 34-06.1, is covered in full on our North Dakota pay transparency page. The parts that bear on pay history:

• The test is "comparable work." Section 34-06.1-03(1) bars paying one gender less "for comparable work on jobs that have comparable requirements relating to skill, effort, and responsibility," allowing differentials under seniority, production or merit systems or "a bona fide factor other than gender, such as education, training, or experience." Prior pay is not among the examples.
• It reaches the people who set the offer. "Employer" includes "any person acting directly or indirectly in the interest of an employer," and section 34-06.1-03(3) says "A person may not cause or attempt to cause an employer to discriminate against any employee in violation of this chapter." A recruiter who talks a client into a lower offer because of a candidate's old salary is the case that subsection describes.
• Every paycheck counts. Under 34-06.1-03(5), a violation occurs each time pay resulting from a discriminatory decision is paid, and suits may be brought within two years (34-06.1-06).
• Records. Employers must keep wage and job classification records "for as long as the employee is employed and two years thereafter" (34-06.1-07), so the reasons for an offer should be in the file too.

The Human Rights Act adds a broader claim. Its definition of employer in N.D.C.C. 14-02.4-02 covers a person who "employs one or more employees," section 14-02.4-03 bars unequal treatment in "compensation" because of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability and other listed grounds, and section 14-02.4-04 bars employment agencies from unequal treatment in connection with applications and referrals.

Do North Dakota cities have salary history rules?

We found none. In November 2026 we searched the Fargo, Grand Forks and Minot codes on Municode for "salary history," "wage history," "compensation history" and "pay history," with no results. We did not check the Bismarck or West Fargo codes for this page.

Which federal rules apply in North Dakota?

• Equal Pay Act and the Eighth Circuit. North Dakota is in the Eighth Circuit. In Drum v. Leeson Electric Corp., No. 08-1678, filed May 15, 2009, the court reversed summary judgment for an employer that pointed to a woman's prior salaries, saying that "When prior salary is asserted as a defense to a claim of unequal pay, this court carefully examines the record to ensure that an employer does not rely on the prohibited 'market force theory' to justify lower wages for female employees simply because the market might bear such wages," citing its earlier decision in Taylor v. White (2003).
• EEOC. The Compliance Manual section on compensation discrimination, on eeoc.gov as of November 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.
• Federal contractors. The OFCCP pay transparency rule, 41 CFR 60-1.35, is no longer in force: Executive Order 14173 revoked Executive Order 11246, and the Labor Department removed 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 Minnesota's ban reach a North Dakota recruiter?

Whenever the job is in Minnesota, and in the Fargo-Moorhead and Grand Forks-East Grand Forks markets that happens every week. Minnesota's ban, Minn. Stat. 363A.08, subdivision 8, has applied since January 1, 2024 to employers, employment agencies and labor organizations, and it bars getting pay history "from any source," which includes the kind of reference call 34-02-18 protects in North Dakota. Details are on our Minnesota salary history page.

South Dakota and the other states west and south have no ban; see South Dakota and the full list in salary history ban states.

Should a North Dakota recruiter ask about current pay?

Agency licensing and other screening rules are in North Dakota staffing agency licensing and E-Verify requirements in North Dakota.

A North Dakota script

Opening the pay topic

"This role pays $62,000 to $72,000 plus benefits (example figures). What would it take for you to make a move?" More wording is in salary expectation questions.

On a reference call

"I'd like to confirm his dates, title and main duties. We don't collect pay history, so no need for salary figures."

When the client wants the candidate's current salary

"We don't pass on pay history, and for the Moorhead office Minnesota bars it outright. His expectation is $70,000."

North Dakota summary

North Dakota checklist

1. Adopt a no-pay-history policy even though North Dakota allows the question and protects employers who share it.
2. Script reference calls to cover dates, title and duties, not pay.
3. Share the range first and ask for expectations.
4. Record the job-related reason for each offer and keep it with the wage records.
5. Keep volunteered figures out of notes and submittals; see what not to write in interview notes.
6. Treat every Minnesota-side job under Minnesota's ban.