California Amends Equal Pay Law: Employment Law Manual Updated, Legal Timetable Entry Added

Authors: Beth P. Zoller, Marta Moakley and Melissa A. Silver, XpertHR Legal Editors

California recently enacted the California Fair Pay Act, making significant amendments to California law that will:

  • Permit an employee to file a complaint with the Division of Labor Standards and Enforcement alleging a wage differential;
  • Provide for exceptions an employer must prove to establish that a wage differential is based on a factor other than sex;
  • Ban an employer from prohibiting an employee from disclosing, discussing or inquiring about their own wages or the wages of another employee, or discriminating or retaliating against them for engaging in such conduct;
  • Prohibit an employer from discriminating or retaliating against an employee for exercising or assisting others in exercising their rights under the amended law; and
  • Increase from two years to three years the amount of time an employer must keep records of employee wages, job classifications and other terms and conditions of employment.

The amendments take effect January 1, 2016.In light of these developments, the following sections of the California Employment Law Manual have been updated:

A Legal Timetable entry has also been added.