California Updates Pay Data Reporting Requirements for 2024

California’s pay data reporting portal opened on Feb. 1, and employers are required to report on three new data points.

Since 2020, California has mandated that employers with at least 100 employees submit a pay data report to the state Civil Rights Department (CRD) as part of its efforts to advance fair pay. The reporting requires annual submissions detailing pay and hours worked for employees in California, or who are a part of a California establishment, categorized by establishment, job category, race/ethnicity, and sex.

In 2022, the reporting requirements expanded to require reporting on both “payroll employees” (workers on an employer’s payroll) and “labor contractor employees” (workers not on an employer’s payroll who are engaged in the employer’s usual course of business). That amendment also established potential penalties of $100 per employee for employers that fail to comply (or $200 per person for repeat failures).

In January 2024, California updated its pay data reporting website for the 2024 reporting cycle.

Below are the key updates:

• Reporting Portal Opening: The portal in which employers must submit their pay data reports opened on Feb. 1.
• Submission Deadline: The deadline to submit payroll and labor contractor employee reports is May 8.
• New Templates Released: Updated Microsoft Excel templates for this year’s reporting are designed to help employers compile and submit the necessary information.
• FAQs Update Pending: The FAQs currently reflect the 2022 reporting period (submitted in 2023) and have not been updated for this cycle. Thus, further guidance for this year may still be released to address any changes or provide additional clarifications.

This year’s payroll employee template introduces three new required data points for each group of employees by establishment, job category, race/ethnicity, sex, and pay band:

• The number of employees in the group that work on-site.
• The number of employees in the group that work remotely from California.
• The number of employees in the group that work remotely outside of California.

The new labor contractor employee template requires the same data points for each labor contractor, establishment, job category, race/ethnicity, and sex employee group.

Employers should act promptly to prepare their data and use the CRD’s new tools and resources.

Joshua Henderson and Christopher Patrick are attorneys with Jackson Lewis in San Francisco and Denver. © 2024. All rights reserved. Reprinted with permission.