On September 30, 2020, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed SB 973, also known as the California Gender, Race Pay-Gap Law, which goes into effect January 1, 2021. California's new law creates a pay data reporting obligation for private (i.e. non-government entity) California employers with 100 or more employees that are required to file an annual, federal Employer Information Report (EEO-1). Covered employers must submit to the state's Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH), by March 31, 2021, and March 31 each year thereafter, a pay data report covering the prior calendar year for specified employee job categories, broken down by race, gender and ethnicity.
The specified job categories are broad and include:
- Executive or senior level officials and managers
- First or mid-level officials and managers
- Professionals
- Technicians
- Sales workers
- Administrative support workers
- Craft workers
- Operatives
- Laborers and helpers
- Service workers
Additionally, the pay data report must include the number of employees by race, ethnicity and sex whose annual earnings fall within each of the pay bands the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics uses in the Occupational Employment Statistics survey; the total number of hours worked by each employee counted in each pay band during the reporting year; and the employer's North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code.
Employers with multiple establishments must submit a report for each establishment and a consolidated report that includes all employees. All covered employers must provide the data in a format that allows the DFEH to search and sort the information using readily available software. Lastly, the DFEH must make the reports available to the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement (DLSE) upon request and maintain the pay data reports for no less than 10 years.
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