What You Should Know About The New California Payroll Data Report

Mar 08, 2021

California’s Pay Data Reporting requires all private-sector employers with 100 or more employees, with at least one employee in California, to report pay and hours worked by employees by race, ethnicity, and sex in ten different job categories to the Department of Fair Employment and Housing (“DFEH”).

The Legislature noted that hidden bias exists and encourages self-assessment of pay disparities along gendered, racial, and ethnic lines to promote voluntary compliance with equal pay and anti-discrimination laws.

When Is The Deadline?

The reporting year is the year prior to the filing. The first reporting deadline is March 31, 2021 for the payroll data from the Snapshot Period in 2020.

The Snapshot period is selected by the employer and must be a single pay period between October 1, 2020 and December 31, 2020. If an employer has a mix of pay periods (monthly, bi-weekly, or weekly, for example), they report all employees employed during the pay period selected.

FAQ’s

What are the penalties for employers who fail to file?

If [DFEH] does not receive the required report from an employer, the department may seek an order requiring the employer to comply with these requirements and shall be entitled to recover the costs associated with seeking the order for compliance.” 

Will DFEH’s pay data reporting system be similar to the one used by the EEOC to collect EEO-1 Component 2 data?

To ease reporting by employers, DFEH is endeavoring to create a system that closely resembles the EEOC’s system to the extent permitted by state statute.

Is this report available to eFile through Aatrix?

Yes, it’s provided as part of a 12-month eFile subscription or can be filed ala carte.

Please visit https://www.dfeh.ca.gov/paydatareporting/faqs/ for more helpful FAQs.