Ohio salary history ban: Cincinnati, Columbus and Toledo rules, and no state law (2026)

Ohio has no statewide salary history ban as of October 2026, but its three largest cities each have one. Cincinnati, Toledo and Columbus bar employers with 15 or more employees in the city, and the employment agencies recruiting for them, from asking about an applicant's salary history, screening on it or relying on it. The three ordinances share most of their wording, so one compliant process covers all three, but they differ on remedies, rehire windows and Columbus's new pay range rule for job postings.

Does Ohio have a statewide salary history ban?

No. Our guide to hiring employees in Ohio found no statewide rule, and the Legislative Service Commission's status report for the 136th General Assembly (2025–2026), current to October 30, 2026, lists no bill on salary history among its 1,606 bills and resolutions.

Nor does state law stop the cities. Ohio's labor preemption statute, R.C. 4113.85 (2017), makes hours, scheduling, work location and fringe benefits matters of employer policy. It does not mention hiring questions or pay history, and all three city ordinances were adopted after it.

Which Ohio cities ban salary history questions?

Who counts as an employer and an applicant?

All three codes define an applicant as someone applying for work "to be performed within the geographic boundaries" of the city, whose application will be "solicited, received, processed, or considered" in the city, "regardless of whether the applicant is interviewed." That covers temporary, seasonal, part-time, contract and commission work, and work through a temporary or other employment agency, but not independent contractors.

The employer must have 15 or more employees working in the city. Cincinnati and Toledo add that the employer must be "located within" the city. Other governments are excluded, but each city covers itself. For a staffing firm, the practical question is whether the client meets the threshold; Columbus pulls an agency in only when it operates on behalf of a covered employer, while Cincinnati and Toledo name agencies as employers outright.

"Inquire" is defined broadly: any question or statement to the applicant, a current or prior employer, or their employees or agents, "for the purpose of obtaining an applicant's salary history," and any search of "publicly available records or reports" for that purpose. Telling the candidate the proposed salary or range is expressly not an inquiry.

What may you still ask in these cities?

• Expectations. Each code lets an employer, "without inquiring about salary history," discuss the applicant's expectations for salary, benefits and other compensation.
• What the candidate would forfeit. The same provision names "unvested equity or deferred compensation" the applicant would lose by resigning. Ask what they would give up, not what they earn.
• Productivity figures. "Salary history" excludes "any objective measure of the applicant's productivity such as revenue, sales, or other production reports," so a sales candidate's quota attainment is fair game.
• Background checks. Verifying non-salary information is allowed, but if the report turns up pay, it may not be relied on (in Columbus, not "solely" relied on) in setting compensation.
• Volunteered pay. "A voluntary and unprompted disclosure" is outside all three bans. As in Philadelphia, "unprompted" is the hard part; a question that invites the number is an inquiry.

The other exceptions are internal transfers and promotions, positions whose pay is set by collective bargaining, rehires within the windows above, and actions under a law that specifically authorizes relying on salary history. Cincinnati alone exempts an employer that, within the previous three years, obtained and published an external certification that its hiring does not use salary history.

How does Columbus's 2025 amendment change job postings?

Ordinance 2898-2025 (November 3, 2025) amended chapter 2335, which the code now titles "Prohibited Salary History Inquiry and Use; Pay Transparency Requirements." Section 2335.03(C) says employers "shall provide a reasonable salary range or scale for potential employment in employment postings," with reasonableness judged by factors including the employer's budget, the expected range of experience, variation in the role's duties, growth opportunities, cost of living where the work may be done, and market research. The code's editor's note quotes section 3 of the ordinance: the posting rule "shall not be enforced by the city until January 1, 2027." Internal transfer and promotion postings are excluded. Posting rules elsewhere are on pay transparency laws by state.

What state and federal law applies everywhere in Ohio?

• R.C. 4111.17. Ohio's wage discrimination statute bars any employer, including the state and its political subdivisions, from paying less for equal work "on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, age, national origin, or ancestry," unless the difference comes from seniority, merit, production, or "any factor other than" those traits. An employee can recover twice the wage difference, and must sue within one year of the violation.
• The Equal Pay Act and the EEOC. 29 U.S.C. § 206(d) has the federal "factor other than sex" defense, and the EEOC's Compliance Manual says "Prior salary cannot, by itself, justify a compensation disparity."
• 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 regulations were rescinded effective October 26, 2026 (91 FR 54444). The National Labor Relations Act still protects most private-sector employees who discuss their wages.

Ohio at a glance

An Ohio script

Opening the pay topic

"This Columbus role pays $58,000 to $66,000 plus benefits (example figures). What are you looking for, and is there anything you'd give up by leaving, like an unvested bonus?"

When the client asks for current pay

"The job's in Cincinnati and you have 15 or more people here, so the city's ordinance applies to us both. Her expectation is $64,000, and she'd forfeit a $3,000 retention payment."

When the candidate starts to volunteer it

"You don't need to tell me that. We set offers from the range." Record the expectation only; see what not to write in interview notes.

Checklist for Ohio searches

1. Check whether the work is in Cincinnati, Columbus or Toledo and whether the client has 15 or more employees there. If you recruit across Ohio, apply the rule everywhere.
2. Remove salary history fields from applications and intake forms.
3. Ask expectations and forfeited pay; use salary expectation questions for wording.
4. Keep pay off reference calls and out of public-record searches.
5. For Columbus postings, add a reasonable range before January 1, 2027.

Related Ohio pages: Ohio background check laws, Ohio staffing agency licensing and Ohio recording consent for interviews. Other states' rules are on salary history ban states.