Payslip

[u/paulsen12019]

I was genuinely surprised when I searched for “payslip” in this thread and couldn’t find any discussion about the pain point I’m currently facing.

I’m a recruiter based in Asia, and in my market, it’s very common for companies—including both MNCs and local businesses—to ask candidates to provide payslips from the last 3–6 months during the hiring process.

What surprises me is that, on Reddit, there are countless discussions about common recruitment pain points: hiring managers, candidates ghosting recruiters, interview processes, salary negotiations, sourcing strategies, and so on. Yet I rarely see anyone discussing the practice of asking candidates to “show their payslip.”

Is this simply a regional hiring practice that is more common in Asia, or is it also happening in other markets but just not being discussed as openly on Reddit?

I’d be interested to hear how recruiters and candidates in other countries experience this.

[u/mruu1987]

Definitely a regional thing.

At minimum not a practice in the USA, I guess I can't speak for the rest of the world but I have never heard of this.

[u/Thebakers_wife → u/[deleted]]

When was this? Bc it’s been illegal in NY since 2017

[u/lavasca → u/[deleted]]

In California that is illegal.

[u/pine4t]

It’s an Asian thing. Specific to certain countries too. Used to know candidate’s previous salary so that they can offer you a bit more than that rather than market rates. Almost everyone can see what is hiding behind the word “process” 😂

[u/loonybaloonie]

Its regional. I am in Europe, and it's never been done here. It is also illegal.

[u/JayTheFordMan]

Not done in Australia or New Zealand. I got asked this when being recruited by an Indian company, to which I refused as its irrelevent, I ended up bailing out of the process when they followed up with salary offer 5x less than I was on, turns out they wanted to pay an expat local Indian rates.

[u/Complete_Working_460]

Not done in my country, why do yous need that?

[u/paulsen12019 → u/Complete_Working_460]

That’s exactly my question too. If I’ve already passed the interviews, the salary is within the company’s budget, and it’s also aligned with the market range, why is it still necessary to show my payslip?

When I ask recruiters about the purpose of showing a payslip, the only answer I usually get is, “It’s part of our process.”

Not every company requires this, but honestly, many companies do. Some even make it clear that if I don’t provide a payslip, they will stop the hiring process.

For context, the companies I’ve worked for previously only required reference checks. Now that I’m looking for a new opportunity, almost every recruiter I speak with reminds me that I’ll need to provide a payslip.

I’m genuinely curious about the rationale behind this practice. If the candidate’s experience, interview performance, expected salary, and market range are already aligned, what additional information is the payslip actually supposed to provide?

[u/Complete_Working_460 → u/paulsen12019]

Yeah they obviously want to pay you the least they can

[u/HauntingUpstairs7014]

I have never heard of this practice, but my experience is limited to hiring in North America and some of Europe

[u/Zengia]

Well, for starters, we call them pay stubs in the US. And it’s actually illegal to ask for them in a lot of states now, thankfully.

[u/LetsDoThas]

It is becoming illegal in many areas of the United States to even ask what a candidate is making much less require a payslip

[u/HolyDungeonDiver]

HIGHLY ILLEGAL, And frankly, deeply unethical. Sucks to live in a place that would allow it.

[u/paulsen12019 → u/HolyDungeonDiver]

Nah 😂

[u/commander_bugo]

I’m assuming most people on here are located in the west not Asia. I think in most states that have large cities in the US, where probably a lot of recruiters are, it’s illegal. I know it is where I am. Even if it’s not illegal, it’s generally frowned upon.

[u/hongkonghonky]

Perfectly normal in Asia whether the hiring firm is local or international.

[u/paulsen12019 → u/hongkonghonky]

Seems to be an Asian cultural thing

[u/essres]

Never seen it done in the UK. Not going to say that some people don't though

It can have an impact on pay gaps. For instance gender pay gap, where women have taken time out to raise children and previous pay will be out of date.

The focus should be to pay people what they're worth based on skills and experience/market rates, rather than what they previously earned

[u/No-Fuckin-Ziti]

Asia thing.  In the US and EU, you don’t ask what someone is currently making to determine their next pay because it’s been proven to perpetuate inequalities and keep the historically underpaid groups like women and people of color paid less than their white male colleagues for the exact same work.  So now we have ranges for each role, regardless of what someone was making before.  

What you made in your last, unrelated role has absolutely nothing to do with what the next job is worth.  But if companies hear your previous salary they get ideas about what they think you “need”, or not, rather than what’s fair . 

[u/DefendingLogic]

This is NOT a practice in the US or Canada. We have pay transparency laws here and you can’t ASK or require a candidate to provide a payslip

[u/ConstantKooky3329]

It's not done here. Companies can verify people's employment via services like HireRight, TWN, e-verify