Dutch government proposes ban on salary-history questions in job interviews

The Dutch cabinet has introduced a wage-transparency bill that would forbid employers from inquiring about a candidate's current or previous earnings, whether through written requests or oral questions in interviews. The goal is to stop earlier low wages from anchoring future salary offers and to make the new job’s duties and responsibilities the primary basis for pay decisions. Under the proposal, employers must provide prospective employees with information on the salary band for the position before negotiations begin.

This early disclosure is intended to reduce wasted interview rounds when the offered pay falls far below expectations. The legislation also calls for broader pay-gap data, including average earnings by gender for comparable work, to improve transparency without granting access to individual pay slips. The bill is still under parliamentary consideration and has not yet been enacted.