It is a common practice for businesses to ask interviewees for their last drawn salary. Some may also ask to see their latest payslips.
While this may be business as usual for employers, workers are increasingly frowning upon this practice as unfair and even unethical. Many prospective employees see it as a way for employers to potentially offer a low-ball salary.
To begin with, salary has always been a sensitive topic. This conversation is further complicated by the fact that, as a society, we also want to move away from tagging a person’s salary to their worth.
Read Also: 12 Things Employers Need To Include In An Itemised Payslip
Why Employers Ask For Last Drawn Salary?
Many businesses may see this as simply part of their hiring SOP (standard operating procedure). It’s likely part of the administrative process for HR as well as to justify an offer to the candidate.
There are also good reasons that it’s part of hiring SOP. Before a business can even start an interview process, it’s logical to sort out who they can realistically afford to hire. An alternative suggestion to the last drawn salary is for businesses to look at the market rate or an employee’s asking salary.
However, what an employee does at their existing or previous employer may not be reflective of the job title they were assigned – and may be pegged against an unfair “market rate”. That’s why the market rate rarely extends to employees uniformly.
While asking salaries are a good point of reference, businesses will naturally seek to optimise their hiring outcomes. After all, they are profit-driven entities. Employers may want to negotiate a competitive salary that still offers a new employee a good pay bump.
Finally, and perhaps the most cynical reason, is that the last drawn salary is an existing or most recent employer’s value of the employee. Having worked with the person, they are in the best position to value the employee’s economic contribution to the business. Companies that are hiring may seek to rely on that information.
Read Also: Anti-Discrimination Processes Recruiters Should Adopt To Comply With Fair Hiring Practices
Are Singapore Employers Allowed To Ask For Last Drawn Salary?
While employers are allowed to ask prospective employees for their last drawn salary, there is no legal requirement in Singapore for employees to provide their last drawn salary information.
Even so, employees have to be ready to become excluded from the hiring process if they choose not to reveal their last drawn salary. If it is part of a company’s administrative requirement, then the hiring manager will not be able to continue with the interview process.
Employers, on their part, should not rely on the last drawn salary as the sole point of reference for how much to offer a prospective employee. It should definitely not be used to reduce the offer you’re already considering.
If more employees collectively refuse to provide such information, employers that insist on such information may find it increasingly difficult to hire. In some sense, if an employer requires the last drawn salary and the employee finds that extremely disconforting, there may already be a misalignment in values, and employees may not want to work in such companies in the first place.
What Employees Can Do When Asked For Their Last Drawn Salary?
It may not be such a bad thing for employees to reveal their last drawn salary. Right at the start, prospective employers will choose not to continue the interview process – saving everyone some time – if they cannot afford the hire.
Moreover, employees can use it as a benchmark for what is a reasonable pay raise from their existing role. They’re surely not going to leave for less or even the same money. Employees can also negotiate from that point.
Of course, it may feel like (and it may also be true that) an employer is low-balling them because of their last drawn salary. However, it is not in an employer’s interest to make their employees feel like that.
Employers want happy workers who are willing to contribute to their business growth and even their cause. At the same time, they too do not want to be taken for a ride, and pay someone a salary that the candidate cannot find anywhere else.
Ultimately, employees may not be able to dictate whether businesses should or not ask for their last drawn salary. They can try to understand the logic behind it. If they strongly disagree, employees can choose not to reveal their last drawn salary or not to work in organisations that have this practice.
Read Also: 10 Types Of Employee Payments (Apart From Salary) That Businesses Need To Pay CPF For
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