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New Laws for 2015: Fair Pay Act (CA)


Recently, California Governor Jerry Brown signed into law SB 358, which bars California employers from paying women less than men when they both do "substantially similar work."  As the language of the new law reads, this Fair Pay Act is one of the tougher equal pay measures to go into effect anywhere in the country.  

Under the new law, employers are prohibited from preventing workers from discussing their own wages or the wages of co-workers if the purpose is to determine pay fairness.  In addition, the Act prevents employers from retaliating or discriminating against employees who seek out pay disparity information.  In essence, California employees are now free to talk amongst themselves and do their own research to determine whether they are receiving fair pay...without the threat of the employer taking action against them.

Interesting to note, the bill received the unanimous support of the Senate in California and only had two dissenting votes in the Assembly.  In an employee friendly state like California, this is not too surprising.  The fact that the California Chamber of Commerce jumped on board in support of the bill shows that there has been wide spread support among business oriented groups, which is something that does not always happen with a pro-employee bill like this. 

The author of the bill, Hanna-Beth Jackson of Santa Barbara, indicated this new law could be a template for other states (or even cities) to use to want to pass similar gender pay-gap bills.  Whether other states will follow suit remains to be seen...but once again, California has become one of the fore bearers on the issue and signed into law another employee friendly piece of legislation.


For additional information:  http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Jerry-Brown-signs-nation-s-toughest-gender-6554023.php

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