Wyoming salary history ban: no state law, the 2019 and 2021 bills that died, and Colorado's ban across the line

Wyoming has no law that bars employers from asking job candidates about their salary history, as of November 2026. Two bills tried: HB0178, "Prospective employees-salary history," was postponed indefinitely on February 4, 2019, and SF0131, the "Workplace transparency act-2," died in committee in April 2021, according to the Legislative Service Office's records; the 2025 and 2026 sessions had none. What limits using pay history in Wyoming is the equal pay article, W.S. 27-4-302, and the Tenth Circuit's ruling in Riser v. QEP Energy that prior salary alone cannot justify a pay gap. For jobs across the southern border, Colorado's ban applies.

Is it illegal to ask about salary history in Wyoming?

No. We searched the full text of Title 27, Labor and Employment, in November 2026 for "salary history," "wage history," "compensation history" and "pay history" and found nothing, and the Legislature's bill lists for the 2025 and 2026 sessions contain no bill on the subject. Our Wyoming pay transparency page reached the same result for pay ranges. Private and public employers may ask, and a candidate may decline.

That matches our guide to hiring employees in Wyoming and Wyoming background check laws.

What did the 2019 and 2021 bills propose?

Both would have added a new paragraph (v) to the list of unfair employment practices in W.S. 27-9-105(a).

• HB0178 (2019), sponsored by Representative Connolly and others, would have made it unfair for an employer to "Seek, orally or in writing, personally or through an agent, the salary history information of a prospective employee," or to rely on it in deciding whether to hire or what to pay, according to the introduced text. A candidate could still disclose salary history "voluntarily and without prompting," and the employer could then consider it. "Salary history information" would have included "compensation and benefits" but not information public under federal or state records laws. The House postponed it indefinitely on February 4, 2019.
• SF0131 (2021), sponsored by Senator Salazar and others, would have applied only to employers with 50 or more full-time employees and combined the salary history rule with protections for discussing wages, according to its introduced text. It died in Senate committee and was returned under the Senate's rules on April 7, 2021. A House bill with the shorter title, HB0196 (2021), the "Workplace transparency act," covered only wage disclosure, with no salary history rule, and died in House committee the same day.

Both drafts would have used the "agent" language that matters to recruiters. Neither became law, so a Wyoming agency can lawfully ask today; the question is whether it should.

How does Wyoming's equal pay law treat prior pay?

W.S. 27-4-302 follows the federal model. An employer may not pay employees less than "employees of the opposite gender for equal work on jobs the performance of which requires equal skill, effort and responsibility and which are performed under similar working conditions," except under a seniority system, a merit system, a production system, or "A differential based on any other factor other than gender." Prior pay, if it is used, has to qualify under that last clause. Three features raise the stakes:

• The definition reaches agents. Under W.S. 27-4-301(b), "Employer" includes "any person acting directly or indirectly in the interest of an employer in relation to an employee."
• Double recovery. W.S. 27-4-303 makes a violating employer liable for the unpaid wages "and in an additional equal amount as liquidated damages," and says no agreement to work for less is a defense. The state claim process through the Department of Workforce Services is covered on our pay transparency page.
• A criminal penalty. Under W.S. 27-4-304, an employer who "willfully violates" the article can be fined up to $500, jailed up to six months, or both.

The Fair Employment Practices Act adds a second claim. W.S. 27-9-102(b) covers the state, its subdivisions and every other person "employing two (2) or more employees within the state," other than religious organizations, and W.S. 27-9-105(a) bars discrimination "in matters of compensation" because of age, sex, race, creed, color, national origin, ancestry or pregnancy, or against a qualified disabled person, and bars discrimination by "a person, an employment agency, a labor organization."

What does Riser v. QEP Energy mean for Wyoming offers?

Wyoming is in the Tenth Circuit. In Riser v. QEP Energy, No. 14-4025, decided January 27, 2015, the court accepted that a former salary "can be considered in determining whether pay disparity is based on a factor other than sex," but held that the Equal Pay Act "precludes an employer from relying solely upon a prior salary to justify pay disparity." The EEOC's Compliance Manual section on compensation discrimination, on eeoc.gov as of November 2026, says the same: "Prior salary cannot, by itself, justify a compensation disparity." Because W.S. 27-4-302 uses the same "factor other than" wording as the federal Act, an offer that rests only on what the candidate used to earn is exposed under both. Our Utah page covers the case facts.

Two other federal points. Title VII, 42 U.S.C. 2000e-2(a), bars compensation discrimination by employers with 15 or more employees. And the OFCCP pay transparency rule, 41 CFR 60-1.35, no longer applies to federal contractors: 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.

What can a former employer share in Wyoming?

W.S. 27-1-113 says an employer "who discloses information about a former employee's job performance to a prospective employer or to an employer of the former employee is presumed to be acting in good faith" and is immune from civil liability unless lack of good faith is shown by a preponderance of the evidence. The presumption is rebutted by showing the information was "knowingly false or deliberately misleading or was rendered with malicious purpose." The statute covers job performance; it does not mention pay, unlike North Dakota's (see the North Dakota page).

Do Wyoming cities have salary history rules?

We found none. In November 2026 we searched the Cheyenne, Casper and Laramie codes on Municode and the Rock Springs code on American Legal Publishing for "salary history," "wage history," "compensation history" and "pay history," with no results. We did not check Gillette's code for this page.

Does Colorado's ban reach Wyoming recruiters?

Yes, whenever the person will work in Colorado. Colorado's Equal Pay for Equal Work Act bars every employer with someone working in the state from asking about pay history or relying on it, with no size threshold; see the Colorado salary history ban. For Cheyenne and Laramie desks that recruit into Fort Collins, Greeley and Denver, that is the rule to plan around.

The other neighbors have no statewide ban: see Utah and South Dakota, and the full list in salary history ban states. Remote postings raise the matching pay range question, covered in pay transparency for remote jobs.

Should a Wyoming recruiter ask about current pay?

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

A Wyoming script

Opening the pay topic

"This role pays $64,000 to $74,000 plus benefits (example figures). What are you looking for?" More wording is in salary expectation questions.

When the hiring manager wants to match the candidate's old salary

"We can weigh it, but it can't be the only reason for the number. The Tenth Circuit said so in Riser. Let's tie the offer to the range and her experience, and write that down."

When a Colorado client asks what the candidate earns now

"For a Colorado job we can't ask or use that. Her expectation is $72,000."

Wyoming summary

Wyoming checklist

1. Adopt a no-pay-history policy even though Wyoming allows the question.
2. Share the range first and ask for expectations.
3. Never let prior pay be the only reason for a pay difference; record the job-related reasons for each offer.
4. Keep volunteered figures out of notes and submittals; see what not to write in interview notes.
5. Keep reference requests to dates, title and performance.
6. Treat every Colorado job under Colorado's ban.