Existing law imposes varying requirements upon employers to share the pay scale for a position with an applicant or in a job posting, as provided. Existing law defines "pay scale" as the salary or hourly wage range that the employer reasonably expects to pay for the position.
This bill would revise the definition of "pay scale" to mean an estimate of this expected wage range that is made in good faith.
Existing law prohibits an employer from paying its employees at wage rates less than the rates paid to employees of the opposite sex or another race or ethnicity for substantially similar work, except under specified circumstances. Existing law requires a civil action to recover wages for a violation of those provisions to be commenced no later than 2 years after the cause of action occurs or, if the cause of action arises out of a willful violation, no later than 3 years after the cause of action occurs.
This bill would prohibit an employer from paying employees at wage rates less than the rates paid to employees of another sex instead of the opposite sex, and would require a civil action to recover wages to be commenced no later than 3 years after the cause of action occurs or 4 years if the cause of action arises out of a willful violation.
This bill would specify that a cause of action occurs when a discriminatory compensation decision or practice is adopted, when an individual becomes subject to the decision or practice, or when an individual is affected by the application of the decision or practice. The bill would make a series of discriminatory wage payments actionable as a continuing violation if the discriminatory wage payments arise from an ongoing discriminatory compensation decision or practice. The bill would define "wages," "wage rates," and "sex" for purposes of those provisions.

Statutes affected:
SB 642: 432.3 LAB, 1197.5 LAB
02/20/25 - Introduced: 432.3 LAB, 1197.5 LAB
04/10/25 - Amended Senate: 432.3 LAB, 1197.5 LAB