California Seeks to Take Pay Transparency to the Next Level!

California’s latest pay transparency bill is one step closer to becoming law. The state’s legislature recently passed Senate Bill 1162 and now awaits Governor Newsom’s signature. The bill would take pay transparency to the next level by expanding existing transparency and reporting requirements for businesses across the state.

The state currently requires employers with 100 or more employees to report pay data for each job category broken down by sex, race, and ethnicity to California’s Department of Fair Employment and Housing every year. S.B. 1162 would expand this to require the median and mean hourly rate for each category and a separate report for those hired through labor contractors. Employees would also be entitled to the pay scale of their current position if requested.

What other states have pay transparency laws?

Pay transparency laws have been gaining popularity in recent years to close the #WageGap. Since California paved the way in 2018, with its Equal Pay Act, several other states and cities including Washington, Maryland, Colorado, Nevada, Connecticut, Toledo, Cincinnati, and New York City have enacted similar legislation. There is legislation pending in a handful of other jurisdictions as well.

While S.B. 1162 isn’t law yet, other states are likely to follow California’s lead and may seek to double down on their own pay transparency laws. We’ll be sure to keep you updated.

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