Thanks to the learned members for their enlightening responses in favor of the proposition.
True, it is neither unethical nor unlawful in the Indian context to ask a candidate about their salary, as it is a predominant practice here. Although I understand that such questions are banned in interviews in the USA by legislation, I am not in favor of such legislation in India. It amounts to dictating to the employer how to conduct an interview, which is a steep interference in their business. However, this is not the issue.
Prudent principles of an interview
My contention is not from the point of ethics or law but from the point of prudent principles of an interview for the reasons given below:
1) Though there are no perfect tools to assess the potential of a candidate, there are equally no perfect tools to detect whether the candidate is lying about their salary by quoting a higher figure than expected. In such cases, the employer may end up paying more than what the candidate deserves. The risks are even.
2) There may not be very accurate tools to test the potential perfectly, but a skillful interviewer with a sharp mind honed by experience can easily gauge a candidate's potential fairly, if not perfectly, during the interview. It is said that it is not necessary to test every grain of rice to see whether the whole bowl of rice is cooked or not, and it is enough to squeeze two or three grains to know this. This is the skill expected of an interviewer. If there are no accurate tools, then we need to use what is available for assessment as the company cannot ask the candidate to wait for 6 months of their probation to know their compensation.
3) It is found that the timing of the question many times is not mature or is premature. Many times the HR asks this question on the phone even before the actual interview commences, giving an unfriendly impression that the company is concerned more about costs than about people. Another drawback is that this plays up on the psyche of the candidate as to why they should quote it when they do not know anything about the future job, and the candidate may not respond or mumble something, ending the process. Who knows, the company may be losing a potential candidate.
Sometimes, the interviewer pops up this question in the middle of the interview, unsettling their mind with doubts about whether the figure will be lower for the job, in which case they fear being underpaid, and if it is higher, they apprehend being rejected. Reluctantly, the candidate is likely to lose interest in the interview. Who knows, the company may be losing a potential candidate.
4) It amounts to pricing a person but not a position, which is not a prudent principle of an interview.
5) Instead of asking about their salary details, the interviewer can best leave the timing of the question to the candidate themselves or postpone it until the interview process is over. By paraphrasing it differently, by asking how much they would like to quote for this job. At this time, both parties are comfortable discussing it in the context of their salary and the job profile, and both parties recognize each other as equal partners in the selection process, as the employer is as much in need of a potential candidate as the candidate is in need of a job.
We may agree or disagree with respect, as every view has its own substance, and most likely, subjects like this may not have a right or wrong answer. What is important is to have different views and discussions on the issue, which the querying member and other members would like to hear and know, and learning happens.
Other views are welcome.
Regards, B. Saikumar HR & Labour Relations Adviser Navi Mumbai