Equal/Fair Pay

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As discussed in prior blog posts, here, here, and here, pay equity is a hot topic for employee retention and compliance. This principle of equal pay for equal work has been mandated since the Equal Pay Act of 1963 and reiterated in Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. More recently, legislators at the federal, state, and local level have increased their focus on pay equity and pay transparency initiatives. …
Continue Reading Pay Equity Claims Are on the Rise – How Are Courts Interpreting the Differences in State and Federal Laws?

As pay equity has drawn more attention in recent years, employers need to stay abreast of the patchwork of federal, state, and local laws related to pay equity issues. Importantly, employers should understand the varying standards for protected characteristics, appropriate comparators, and accepted defenses under the varying laws of different jurisdictions. At a high level, this post summarizes the federal and state legal frameworks for pay equity claims and highlights the important differences in analyzing such claims.
Continue Reading Pay Equity – A Patchwork Legal Landscape

As pay equity and transparency continues to trend in the news, states and localities have passed pay disclosure and transparency laws to further assist employees in evaluating whether they are being paid fairly. These laws vary in scope – some require the disclosure of pay ranges on job postings, others require employers to provide the pay scale for a position upon an applicant or employee’s request, and others require employers to automatically provide pay scale information at the time of hire. Despite their differences, all of these pay disclosure laws are aimed at adding transparency to conversations about pay. …
Continue Reading Pay Disclosure and Transparency Efforts Across the Country

Pay equity and transparency have become hot topics across the country as states and the federal government seek to ensure pay equity for employees, regardless of protected class. Federal anti-discrimination laws like the Equal Pay Act and Title VII provide legal recourse for employees who have experienced pay discrimination. As many employers know, federal law prohibits employers from demanding pay confidentiality from employees. Pay transparency laws go a step further and require employers to publish ranges for open positions, adding transparency to the conversations about pay. A new tool in lawmaker’s pay equity toolbox is pay reporting – requiring employers to submit pay data to state agencies. …
Continue Reading States Push Pay Reporting Requirements in Effort to Ensure Pay Equity

On October 24, 2022, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals issued an opinion in Cadena v. Customer Connexx LLC holding that the time employees spend booting up their computers is compensable under the Fair Labor Standards Act (the “FLSA”). The decision reverses a 2021 Nevada district court’s decision that came to the opposite conclusion, holding that time spent initiating computers was not compensable.
Continue Reading Ninth Circuit Requires Employee Compensation for Pre-Shift Duties Under FLSA

Following the flood of employee-friendly legislation during the Virginia General Assembly’s 2020 session, which included a significantly strengthened wage payment law, the 2021 session resulted in the passage of yet another new wage-related law that employers need to be aware of.  This new law – the “Virginia Overtime Wage Act” – goes into effect on July 1, 2021 and will usher in the first overtime pay requirement in Virginia’s history.
Continue Reading Virginia’s New Overtime Law Threatens Double and Treble Damages For Employers Who Don’t Pay Up

A bill recently signed into law in California will require private employers to submit annual “pay data reports” to the Department of Fair Employment and Housing beginning in March 2021. The California law implements a previously announced program rolled back by the Trump administration to expand federal reporting requirements to include employee pay data by race, gender, and ethnicity.
Continue Reading New CA Law Requires Employers to Submit Annual Pay Data Reports

On March 27, 2020, President Trump signed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act into law. One aspect of the CARES Act, the Paycheck Protection Program, permits certain employers to obtain forgivable loans in order to keep employees on the job and to pay overhead costs. …
Continue Reading 10 Fast Facts Small Business Owners Should Know About the Paycheck Protection Program

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic and in an effort to prevent the spread of the virus, many employers are grappling with the need to immediately shut down operations.  This raises the question whether employers must pay out all wages (including paid time off) when employees are temporarily laid off or furloughed. In California, they might.
Continue Reading Will Employers Who Institute Temporary Layoffs In Response To COVID-19 Have To Pay Out All Wages Due At The Time of Layoff? In California, They Might

Under California law, an employee’s prior salary cannot be used to justify a pay disparity.  Now, the same is true under federal law – at least in the Ninth Circuit. In Rizo v. Yovino, the Ninth Circuit recently ruled that an employee’s prior pay history is not a “factor other than sex” that can justify a pay gap under the Federal Equal Pay Act.
Continue Reading 9th Circuit Joins Shifting Terrain of Pay Equity Laws