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.
Continue Reading California Pay Data Reporting Portal Is Now Open – Employers Must Submit Pay Data Reports By May 8, 2024

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

On April 14, 2023, the California Civil Rights Department (“CRD”), formerly known as the Department of Fair Employment and Housing, announced that it will now accept “enforcement deferral requests” from employers currently obligated to provide a “Labor Contractor Employee Report” by the upcoming May 10, 2023 deadline.
Continue Reading Extension Available for California Employers to Submit Labor Contractor Employee Report

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

Now perhaps more than ever, employers of all stripes are grappling with an increased focus on pay equity, and it is transforming employer approaches to compensation. This presentation provides an overview of the pay equity landscape as well as discusses other pay transparency and reporting requirements across the nation.

Continue Reading CLE Webinar Invite – Don’t Get Lost In the Dark – Navigating Pay Transparency and Pay Equity Laws

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 December 21, 2022, New York Governor Kathy Hochul signed New York State’s pay transparency bill into law. Effective September 17, 2023, the new law will require employers to disclose the anticipated compensation range for any advertised job posting.
Continue Reading New York State Enacts Wage Transparency Law