If legally permitted to answer about salary history, how should a previously underpaid candidate frame their current earnings?

Frame the current salary as a data point that is lower than the true market value for the new role's duties

When addressing salary history in jurisdictions where it is permitted, a candidate who knows they were underpaid in their previous role must navigate the response carefully. The goal is to ensure that historical underpayment does not depress the offer for the new role. Therefore, the current salary should be presented as merely a data point reflecting past circumstances, explicitly contextualized as being lower than the candidate's true, current market value, thereby emphasizing that expectations for the new role are strictly based on the duties and market rate associated with the prospective position.