# Job Interview Requesting Last Paystub or W2 **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 10, 2011, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/job-interview-requesting-last-paystub-or-w2/588544 "2011-07-10T21:18:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![FatBaldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecd19e/32.png) [@FatBaldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FatBaldGuy)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2011, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/job-interview-requesting-last-paystub-or-w2/588544/21 "2011-07-14T13:49:37Z")
> [@echo6160](#): > > I say give them the particular papers they want, but black out all the parts which involve payment. If they ask, just be honest. There’s no reason they need to have such an obvious bargaining advantage. This. I would say something lilke, “Here is the form you asked for to verify my previous employment. Obviously, I’ve blacked out the confidential parts, as I’m sure you can understand.” ---
**Author:** ![fluiddruid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@fluiddruid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fluiddruid)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2011, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/job-interview-requesting-last-paystub-or-w2/588544/22 "2011-07-14T14:09:42Z")
> [@Yarster](#): > > As usual, I’m baffled by the hostility of some of the folks here who think that because some company has on the HR flunky checklist “ask for W-2 or last paystub” that you should immediately firebomb the CEO’s house. > > I’m sure it is designed to verify that 1) your resume is accurate and 2) what your most recent salary was for negotiating purposes if it comes to that. I filled in all this information for HR when I started at my last company, and they used it to screw me and decide they could lower my salary 10% below what I made at my _previous_ job (a 25% reduction overall) when the economy took a nose dive. I left two months later when I found something else because that was a jerk move on their part. The truth is though, they were going to be jerks anyway, and I was going to leave anyway when they did, so them having the data didn’t matter in the long run. Well, yeah, you gave a really good reason as to why it’s objectionable. It’s predatory. It feels the same as if you’re being hooked to a polygraph and asked what the minimum salary would be to accept the job. It’s like a car dealership asking to see your tax return before negotiating on the price of car. There’s just no legitimate reason to need the information; they’re just throwing their weight around because most people will give in. How would you think the company would react if an applicant came in and wanted to know the salaries of all peer-level employees before negotiating for a salary? Or even just wanted to know an average for the position, broken down by tenure? They’d tell him to go screw, that’s what. “It’s confidential.” That said, you have to gauge it all by how much you need the job. If you need it enough to accept whatever salary they offer, then take it. But, I’ve found, a company that tries to take advantage during hiring is often the same while working there. There are exceptions, of course. I’d be on my guard all the same. ---
**Author:** ![Rachellelogram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rachellelogram/32/8689_2.png) [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2011, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/job-interview-requesting-last-paystub-or-w2/588544/23 "2011-07-14T20:37:32Z")
I like the advice to black out the numbers on there. You could also say you signed an NDA that doesn’t permit you to disclose that information, but you would be happy to negotiate salary based on the current market according to _whatever resource_. (I look at the glassdoor website to get an idea of where to start salary negs) ---
**Author:** ![ethelbert](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/958977/32.png) [@ethelbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ethelbert)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2011, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/job-interview-requesting-last-paystub-or-w2/588544/24 "2011-07-14T22:15:49Z")
I am a bit puzzled. On every employment application I have ever filled out I have had to provide salary information. There was never any option to say “I can’t tell you that. It’s secret.” Yes, they want to know your salary history. If you have gotten this far in the process, haven’t you given them your salary history? And isn’t your last stub simply confirming what you told them? ---
**Author:** ![Rachellelogram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rachellelogram/32/8689_2.png) [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2011, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/job-interview-requesting-last-paystub-or-w2/588544/25 "2011-07-15T03:29:28Z")
> [@ethelbert](#): > > I am a bit puzzled. On every employment application I have ever filled out I have had to provide salary information. There was never any option to say “I can’t tell you that. It’s secret.” Yes, they want to know your salary history. If you have gotten this far in the process, haven’t you given them your salary history? And isn’t your last stub simply confirming what you told them? What industry do you work in? I’ve never been asked for current salary information, only to ballpark a salary preference for the new job (and I always write in “$negotiable”). It hardly seems to be the norm. ---
**Author:** ![Ura-Maru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/51bf81/32.png) [@Ura-Maru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ura-Maru)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2011, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/job-interview-requesting-last-paystub-or-w2/588544/26 "2011-07-15T05:30:09Z")
> [@rachelellogram](#): > > What industry do you work in? I’ve never been asked for current salary information, only to ballpark a salary preference for the new job (and I always write in “$negotiable”). It hardly seems to be the norm. It’s the norm for most ‘unskilled’ work, and has been for as long as I’ve been aware. Retail, restaurant work, oil change places, probably the hospitality industry as well. The industries where the employer feels they can dictate any terms they want, and then complain bitterly that they can’t find good people and they’re loosing too much on turnover retraining. It would surprise me not at all if this charming trend was working it’s way up the industry food chain. It’s not illegal, and it sure as hell wasn’t HR’s alleged sense of decency that stopped them from asking before. They figured it wasn’t worth the effort, because it would drive away the people they wanted to hire. Now it won’t. They know you’re not going to walk away insulted if they ask, so what’s stopping them? Manners? – ‘Corporate Uniforms’ involving stupid polo shirts are probably working their way up as well. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/job-interview-requesting-last-paystub-or-w2/588544.md?page=1)