The Pay Data Reporting Portal has Opened – Employers Must Submit Data By March 31st

By SHLC on March 9, 2021 in Legal Update
2

The California Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) opened its new Pay Data Reporting Portal on February 16, 2021 to assist employers in complying with California’s Pay Data Reporting Law that was enacted late last year. Under the new law (Govt. Code section 12999), private employers with 100 or more total employees, with at least one employee in California, are required to submit a pay data report to the DFEH by March 31, 2021 and annually thereafter. The precise categories of data to be included in the pay data report is extensive, and includes information related to the number of employees and their earnings by race, ethnicity, and sex across multiple job categories. Employers with multiple establishments are required to submit a separate report for each establishment and a consolidated report that includes all employees. The DFEH expects that the employers’ pay data reports will allow the DFEH to more efficiently identify wage patterns and allow for effective enforcement of equal pay and anti-discrimination laws.

On its website, the DFEH provides a 68-page User Guide to help employers use the portal, a sample template that employers can use to collect and submit their data, a sample submission (CSV Example), and the portal itself through which employers can submit their data to the DFEH (Pay Reporting Portal). The website also contains Enforcement Deferral Request information and answers to frequently asked questions (FAQs).  You can access the DFEH’s Pay Data Reporting page at https://www.dfeh.ca.gov/paydatareporting/. It is important to timely submit the required information as employers who fail to comply may be liable for the costs associated with any DFEH attempt to order compliance.

For help navigating the new legal requirements, contact any of the attorneys at Sutton Hague Law Corporation or other qualified California employment law counsel.