On October 15th, California Governor Jerry Brown vetoed a pay equity report that would require employers with 500 or more employees to file a statement with the Secretary of State with information on gender wage differentials.
The AB-1209 bill was passed in the House and the Senate in May and September, respectively. In California, the legislature is not able to override the Governor’s veto without a 2/3 vote, as per the California State Senate Legislative Process.
In his veto, Governor Brown stated his support of equitable compensation for women, but felt the bill as written would have been more likely to inspire litigation rather than a solution to the gender wage gap.
Governor Brown was also presented with a bill that would ban employers from asking about the salary history of job applicants. He signed this bill into law on October 12, 2017; it will go into effect on January 1, 2018.
This law is an attempt to combat the perpetuation of wage gap differentials between men and women brought about by prior salary inquiries. Under the law, applicants can voluntarily disclose prior salary history, but the text clearly states “an employer shall not rely on salary history information of an applicant for employment as a factor in determining whether to offer employment to an applicant or what salary to offer an applicant.”
DCI will follow this story to determine what kinds of implications this law may have on other state compensation policies.
By Joanna Colosimo, Director of EEO Compliance, and Rachel Monroe, HR Analyst, at DCI Consulting
