Employer Alert: 2023 Pay Data Reports are due 5/8/2024!

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We have been regularly reporting on California’s pay data reporting requirement which requires private employers of 100 or more employees and/or 100 or more workers hired through labor contractors to annually report pay, demographic, and other workforce data to the Civil Rights Department (CRD).  This reporting is required under Government Code section 12999, as amended by Senate Bill 1162.

The CRD’s website links to the portal through which employers submit their data to CRD (Pay Data Reporting Portal), a guide to using the portal (User Guide), Excel Templates that employers may use to submit their data (Excel Templates), examples of CSV submissions (CSV Examples), and answers to frequently asked questions (FAQs).

Here are some important announcements for the 2023 Reporting Year:

• Reports are due May 8, 2024, for the 2023 reporting year.
• Updated resources: New versions of the pay data reporting Excel templates, .CSV examples, user guide, and portal are available starting February 1, 2024, at www.calcivilrights.ca.gov/paydatareporting.

1. Caution: Do not use Excel templates or .CSV examples from prior years; the portal will reject submissions based on outdated versions of the templates.
2. CRD has refined the portal and templates to improve user experience. For example, in the Excel template, a user can hover their cursor on a column heading to see relevant instructions.

• New data fields: Employers must newly report whether employees worked remotely during the Snapshot Period. For more information, see FAQs “Who is a ‘remote worker’ in a pay data report?” and “If an employee who was remote the first six months of the year transitioned to a hybrid or in-person role during the second six months of the year, should the employee be reported in a pay data report as a remote worker?”

• Race, ethnicity, sex: For Labor Contractor Employee Reports, reporting “unknown” race/ethnicity or sex of a labor contractor employee is no longer permitted. For more information, see Part V.B of the FAQs.

• Deadline: Pay data reports covering the 2023 Reporting Year are due by Wednesday, May 8, 2024. For more information, see FAQ “What is the deadline for employers to submit their pay data report(s) to CRD?

• Changes implemented last year remain in effect, including:

1. Labor contractor worker reporting: In addition to the Payroll Employee Report that all private employers with 100 or more employees (with at least one employee based in California) must file, Senate Bill 1162 added the requirement that a private employer with 100 or more workers hired through labor contractors in the prior calendar year (with at least one worker based in California) must file a separate Labor Contractor Employee Report that covers workers hired through labor contractors in the prior calendar year. An employer submitting a Labor Contractor Employee Report submits one report that covers labor contractor workers at all of the employer’s establishments. Senate Bill 1162 requires the employer’s labor contractors to provide necessary data and information to the employer submitting the report, as well as requires the employer to identify their labor contractors. For more information about Labor Contractor Employee Reports, see Parts II, IV, and V of the FAQs, among others.
2. Mean and median rates: Senate Bill 1162 requires employers to calculate and report the mean and median hourly rate of its payroll employees and/or labor contractor employees, by establishment, pay band, job category, race/ethnicity, and sex. There are columns in the Excel template and .CSV example for the reporting of this information. For more information about calculating the mean and median hourly rates, see Part V of the FAQs.
3. Increased penalties for nonfilers: Senate Bill 1162 permits CRD to obtain a monetary penalty against any employer that fails to file a required report, as well as against any labor contractor that fails to supply necessary data to a client employer. Employers should be aware that CRD is actively pursuing non-filers (see, e.g., Civil Rights Department Secures Nearly $100K Settlement to Resolve Cambrian Homecare, Inc. Pay Data Lawsuit). For more information, see FAQ “What are the penalties for employers that fail to file?”
4. Report only California workers: In a pay data report, employers must report on their workers assigned to California establishments and/or working within California. Employers may not report on workers who are working outside of California and are assigned to an establishment outside of California. For more information, see, for example, FAQ “Should an employer’s Payroll Employee Report include only their California employees or all employees?”
5. Aggregate results: In 2022 and 2023, CRD published aggregate results from the 2020 and 2021 Reporting Years. In 2024, CRD plans to publish aggregate results from the 2022 Reporting Year. CRD encourages employers to review these results, as well as to assess their own pay data reports and pay practices, in light of California’s anti-discrimination and equal pay laws. Toward this goal, the portal provides an employer with visualizations of the certified data that the employer submitted to CRD.

CRD’s support team has also provided contact information for employers with additional questions not answered on their website at [email protected]. 

 

As usual, Rosasco Law Group can help you navigate the myriad of employer requirements, including new laws for 2024.  Give us a call for any of your reporting or compliance needs.