Picture of piles of money to illustrate SB 973 in California.

On January 1, 2021, employers with more than 100 workers will be required to comply with SB 973 — a new measure that mirrors the federal Employer Information Report (EEO-1) form.

SB 973 requires businesses to provide annual pay data reports for employees by race, ethnicity, and sex in 10 exempt and non-exempt job categories. 

Employers will be expected to file their first reports with the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) by March 31, 2021, and then annually no later than March 31 of subsequent years. Although this information was previously collected at the federal level, California lawmakers want to ensure the data continues to be collected at the state level. 

In the event of an investigation by the California Labor Commissioner’s Division of Labor Standards Enforcement (DLSE), the SB 973 bill requires DFEH to provide employer’s pay data reports in order to enforce California’s Equal Pay Act. 

The SB 973 law states that employers’ pay data will be kept confidential unless needed for enforcement, or for civil discovery actions, and that individually identifiable information will not be provided under the California Public Records Act.

Employers with multiple establishments throughout California — such as retailers, manufacturers, restaurants and hotels — will be required to submit individual reports for each business, along with a single report that includes all of their employees. In some instances, an employer will be allowed to submit its EEO-1 to comply with the new SB 973 law.

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