By Monica Folsom

California law prohibits employers from requesting or otherwise seeking salary history information, including compensation and benefits, about an applicant for employment. Upon reasonable request, an employer must provide an applicant the pay scale for the position for which they are applying.

Beginning January 1, 2023, Senate Bill 1162 requires all employers, upon reasonable request, to provide an employee the pay scale for a position in which the employee is currently employed. It also requires an employer with 15 or more employees to include the pay scale for a position in any job posting. This obligation extends to an employer’s use of a third party to advertise a job posting for the employer. All employers must maintain records of a job title and wage rate history for each employee for the duration of the employment plus three years after the end of the employment and make those records available for inspection by the Labor Commissioner, upon request. For purposes of these obligations, the pay scale is defined as the salary or hourly wage range that the employer reasonably expects to pay for the position.

Senate Bill 1162 also modifies existing annual pay data reporting requirements applicable to private employers with 100 or more employees. Specifically, such employers will be required to report to the state “within each job category, for each combination of race, ethnicity, and sex, the median and mean hourly rate.” Employers who retain one hundred or more workers through labor contractors will also be required to submit a pay data report covering those workers. These reports are required to be submitted regardless of whether the employer is required to file an EEO-1 report and are due on or before the second Wednesday of May 2023 and on or before the second Wednesday of May of each year thereafter.

Employers should consult legal counsel for additional details regarding these obligations.

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