Illinois’s Governor J.B. Pritzker recently signed Senate Bill 1480 into law, establishing new employer certification and reporting requirements, making sweeping changes to Illinois’s anti-retaliation law, and curtailing employers’ uses of criminal convictions in employment decisions.  Effective immediately upon signing on March 23, 2021, the law impacts all employers doing business in Illinois.  A summary of the amendments to the Illinois Equal Pay Act, Illinois Business Corporation Act, and Illinois Human Rights Act are detailed below:
Continue Reading Governor Signs Sweeping Changes to Illinois Employment Laws

Employers operating, even on a limited basis, in Colorado should be aware of Colorado’s recent wage disparity and discrimination bill, which takes effect in 2021 and imposes widespread requirements related to record-keeping, disclosure, and transparency.

In May of 2019, Colorado Governor Jared Polis signed the Equal Pay for Equal Work Act into law.  The Act will go into effect on January 1, 2021.  The Act was enacted to address pay disparities affecting women and minorities, and includes several provisions aimed at preventing wage discrimination, such as:
Continue Reading What Employers Need to Know About Colorado’s New Equal Pay Act

On July 31, 2019, Governor J.B. Pritzker signed a law prohibiting Illinois employers from asking job applicants or their previous employers about salary history.

The law amends the Equal Pay Act of 2003, which made it illegal to discriminatorily pay employees on the basis of sex or race. The impetus behind the new salary history amendment is an effort to close the gender wage gap. According to a news release from the governor’s office, women in Illinois earn 79% of what men earn.
Continue Reading Salary History Off-Limits Under New Illinois Equal Pay Law

Enacted in 1963, the Equal Pay Act prohibits differential payments between male and female employees doing equal work except when made pursuant to a seniority system, a merit system, a system which measures earnings by quantity or quality of production, or a fourth, catch-all exception for “a differential based on any other factor other than sex.” 29 U.S.C. § 206(d)(1). These exceptions are affirmative defenses which the employer must plead and prove.

In Rizo v. Yovino, 2018 U.S. App. LEXIS 8882, an en banc panel of the Ninth Circuit considered whether an employee’s prior salary was a permissible “factor other than sex” under the Equal Pay Act. Prior Ninth Circuit precedent held that “the Equal Pay Act does not impose a strict prohibition against the use of prior salary.” Kouba v. Allstate Insurance Co., 691 F.2d 873, 878 (9th Cir. 1982). Under Kouba, employers were prohibited from using a factor which “causes a wage differential between male and female employees absent an acceptable business reason.” Id., at 876.

On April 9, 2018, a bare majority of the 11 judge en banc panel of the Ninth Circuit overruled Kouba and held that “a legitimate ‘factor other than sex’ must be job related and that prior salary cannot justify paying one gender less if equal work is performed.” Rizo v. Yovino, 2018 U.S. App. LEXIS 8882, at *15. Writing for the majority, the late Stephen Reinhardt announced a bright-line rule that “prior salary alone or in combination with other factors cannot justify a wage differential.” Id., at *5-6. Five judges concurred in the result, but disagreed with the majority’s holding that prior salary can never suffice to constitute a “factor other than sex” sufficient to justify a wage differential.
Continue Reading Ninth Circuit Holds Prior Salary Cannot Justify Wage Differences

The 2017 California Legislature adjourned on September 15, 2017, and resulted in more than 700 bills being sent to Governor Jerry Brown’s desk for approval. Although the deadline for the Governor to sign new bills into law does not officially expire until October 15, the Governor has already given his stamp of approval to a handful of new employment laws that will take effect on January 1, 2018, including one from the California Chamber of Commerce’s annual list of “Job Killers.” Below is a summary of the major bills recently signed into law.
Continue Reading 5 New Laws: California Governor Approves Employee-Friendly Laws

In our prior post, we reported that the New York City Council had approved an amendment to the New York City Human Rights Law (“NYCHRL”) prohibiting New York City employers from inquiring about a prospective employee’s salary history during the hiring process. At the time, it was awaiting Mayor de Blasio’s signature. On May 4, 2017, Mayor de Blasio signed the proposed amendment into law. It is now scheduled to take effect on October 31, 2017.
Continue Reading Update to NYC Salary History Inquiry Ban

On Wednesday, April 5, 2017, the New York City Council approved an amendment to the New York City Human Rights Law (“NYCHRL”) prohibiting New York City employers from inquiring about a prospective employee’s salary history during the hiring process.  If signed by Mayor Bill DiBlasio – which is expected – the law will become effective sometime in October 2017, depending on the date the law is signed.
Continue Reading NYC Council Approves Salary History Inquiry Ban

The United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) has published proposed revisions to the requirements associated with the Employer Information Report (EEO-1). The EEO-1 already requires employers with more than 100 employees to provide certain employment information to the federal government, including the ethnic, racial and gender breakdown of their employees.  The proposed revisions would require employers to include in their EEO-1 reports information regarding aggregate data on pay ranges and hours worked. 
Continue Reading EEOC Proposes New Pay Data Reporting Requirements for Employers