California Equal Pay Developments

Iceland Moves to Freeze Out Wage Discrimination

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On January 1, 2018, Iceland’s amended Equal Pay Standard took effect, the latest in a serious of measures seeking to address the persistence of national gender wage gaps. The law requires employers with 25 or more employees to obtain a government certification every three years verifying a company’s compliance with equal pay requirements. Failure to attain certification exposes employers to liability of up to nearly $500 in penalties per day. Employers with an observed pay differential can comply by raising the salaries of employees to eliminate the differential. READ MORE →

California Takes One Step Closer to Imposing Reporting Requirements and Public Shaming for Employer Pay Gaps

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When we last checked in on AB 1209, the Gender Pay Gap Transparency Act, the proposed legislation was making its way through the California Senate. After making a few key amendments, the Senate passed the bill on September 7, 2017. The California Assembly approved the amendments on September 11, 2017, and now the fate of AB 1209 lies in the hands Governor Jerry Brown. READ MORE →

San Francisco Adopts “Parity In Pay” Ordinance And Becomes The Latest City To Ban Employers From Asking About Prior Pay

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San Francisco has become the latest city, along with a handful of states, to prohibit both private and public employers from asking job applicants to disclose their salary history.  The “Parity in Pay Ordinance” will take effect July 1, 2018, giving employers a little under a year to make any necessary changes to come into compliance.  The complete text of the ordinance, which will be enforced by the San Francisco Office of Labor Standards Enforcement (“OLSE”) is available here.

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California Legislature Draws Inspiration from UK Pay Gap Reporting Requirements with New Bill

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The California legislature is poised to continue its trailblazing streak of equal pay legislation with a new pay gap reporting bill. If approved and signed by Governor Jerry Brown, AB 1209 would add Section 2810.7 to the California Labor Code and require certain large employers to report pay gap statistics on an annual basis beginning in 2019. READ MORE →

Fair Enough? New Equal Pay Legislation Expands California’s Fair Pay Act

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Just less than a year ago, California adopted the Fair Pay Act (“FPA”), which took effect on January 1, 2016 and created some of the strongest equal pay protections in the nation.  On September 30, 2016, Governor Jerry Brown signed two bills that expand the law even further.

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Equal Pay and Equity Status: Recent Wave of Litigation Brings Gender Gap at Major Law Firms to the Forefront

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In an emerging trend, law firms have found themselves the targets of recent lawsuits alleging gender discrimination against female partners.  Most recently, Kerrie Campbell, a litigation partner at Chadbourne & Parke’s Washington, D.C. office filed a $100 million proposed class action lawsuit on behalf of all female partners at the firm.  She alleges that Chadbourne’s male-dominated culture leads to unequal compensation for women.  The lawsuit, filed on August 31, 2016, in federal district court in New York, seeks relief under Title VII, the Federal Equal Pay Act, and the District of Columbia Human Rights Act.

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Updated Maps: States With Equal Pay Protections and Pending Equal Pay Legislation

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As we noted in a previous post, Maryland Governor Larry Hogan signed the Equal Pay for Equal Work Act of 2016 (“Equal Pay Act”) into law on May 19, 2016 (effective on October 1, 2016). With the passage of this new law, Maryland joins New York and California in the category of states with some of the country’s most expansive equal pay protections. Included below are our updated maps of states with equal pay protections and  of states with equal pay protections and states with pending equal pay legislation.

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Employers Left Hanging Again: Coates v. Farmers Reaches Settlement & Still No Answers on Interpreting California’s Fair Pay Act

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What many were hoping would bring clarity to California’s Fair Pay Act, further left employers in the dark on how to interpret the Act.

On April 29, 2015, Plaintiff Lynne Coates filed a class action lawsuit against Farmers alleging gender discrimination claims under Title VII and California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act, as well as violations of the federal and California equal pay acts and California’s Private Attorneys General Act.  Coates claimed that Farmers systematically discriminated against female attorney employees and that its “common compensation and promotion policies and practices resulted in lower pay and unequal promotions for female attorneys.”

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Latest California Equal Pay Legislation Targets Race and Ethnicity

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As California employers adjust to recent amendments to the state’s Equal Pay Act, additional changes are looming.  As we reported here, last year, California adopted the Fair Pay Act, which provides new pay equity provisions related to employees of the opposite sex.  Those amendments took effect on January 1, 2016.  Now, California lawmakers are setting their sights on pay disparities based on race and ethnicity.  On February 16, 2016, California Senator Isadore Hall III (D-South Bay) introduced Senate Bill 1063, known as the Wage Equality Act of 2016 (“SB 1063”), which seeks to expand pay equity requirements beyond sex to include race and ethnicity.

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Legislative Updates Employers Should Know About to Avoid Wringing in the New Year

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The California legislature played an active role in 2015 by enacting new rules and amendments in many employment areas.  The following covers some of the key highlights, some of which became effective on January 1, 2016.

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