As we reported during the Year in Review 2020 workshop, California adopted a system for employers of 100 or more persons to report data on race, ethnicity and sex to the state. Why did California do this when the EEOC requires similar information with an EEO-1 Report? It’s because under the Trump Administration, the EEO reporting requirements were relaxed. California decided employers should still provide the information and so it enacted a state-based reporting requirement.
With palm trees waiving in the background, the DFEH announced its reporting portal just opened. (I don’t feel the vibes of sitting on the beach under a palm tree relaxing when I consider the state wants information so it can try and discover possible claims against my company!)
The Pay Data Reporting requirements, found in Government Code § 12999, require the employer to provide certain details about employees, including a job category, race, ethnicity and sex and pay bands, number of hours worked and total wages earned. The job categories include senior management, first or mid-level management, professionals, technicians, sales, administration, crafts, operatives, laborers and service workers. The pay bands are found in the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics in the Occupational Employment Statistics survey.
Affected employers create a “snapshot” that counts employees during a single pay period between October 1 and December 31. You choose which pay period.
If you have completed the federal EEO-1, you can submit that form to the DFEH. By the way, whatever form you submit, the DFEH will make the form available to the DLSE (Labor Commissioner) ostensibly for potential prosecution of wage and hour violations. (Gotta love California!)
You can report the data online by following the instructions found here: https://www.dfeh.ca.gov/paydatareporting/