Starting pay for newly hired employees has to be negotiated. This ensures a fair wage, not only for the newly hired employee, but also as it relates to incumbent employees. Stated another way, it would be unfair for a newly hired employee to make more than an incumbent in the same position, sometimes the result of who someone knows. The Public Employment Relations Board sustained our client’s charge to enforce a past practice of starting pay for newly hired employees in a certain title. PERB agreed that an employer may not decide the starting pay at any step for itself, potentially treating some prospective employees markedly different from others as well as incumbents. IDCWLaw Partner Liam L. Castro, Esq. handled the arguments for our client.