California law requires employers with at least 100 employees and at least one California employee to annually report pay, demographic, and other workforce data to the Civil Rights Department (“CRD”). This reporting is required under Government Code section 12999 and is part of the State’s efforts to promote equal pay.
In 2020’s Senate Bill 973, the California Legislature required employers of 100 or more employees to report to CRD pay and hours-worked data by establishment, pay band, job category, sex, race, and ethnicity. By requiring large employers to report pay data annually to CRD, the Legislature sought to encourage these employers to self-assess pay disparities along gendered, racial, and ethnic lines in their workforce and to promote voluntary compliance with equal pay and anti-discrimination laws. In addition, Senate Bill 973 authorized CRD to enforce the Equal Pay Act (Labor Code section 1197.5), which prohibits unjustified pay disparities between people of different sexes, races, or ethnicities. The Fair Employment and Housing Act (Gov. Code § 12940 et seq.), already enforced by CRD, also prohibits pay discrimination. Employers’ pay data reports allow CRD to more efficiently identify wage patterns and allow for effective enforcement of equal pay or anti-discrimination laws, when appropriate. CRD’s strategic vision is a California free of discrimination.
The penalties for employers that fail to file a required report can reach $100 per employee and increase to $200 per employee for a subsequent failure to file a required report. These penalties are also assessable against a labor contractor that failed to provide required pay data to a client employer promptly. The CRD is also entitled to recover its costs in any enforcement action against an employer.
For a complete Question & Answer (FAQ) regarding the California Pay Data Report, visit PDR FAQs – 2023 Reporting Year | CRD (ca.gov). Take notice of the option for reporting a “Snapshot Period” – a single pay period between October 1 – December 31.
