April 9, 2021: On March 29, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission announced that qualifying employers (see qualification criteria below) will be required to file 2019 and 2020 workplace diversity data between April 26 and July 19, 2021.  Collection of 2019 data was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic; as a result both 2019 and 2020 data will have to be filed in 2021.  You can find more information on EEOC’s website.

February 5, 2021: For farm employers who are covered by SB 973 (see coverage details below), the Departement of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) has published additional guidance (see hotlink below) about the SB 973-mandated report itself; for example:

• How to calculate compensation of employees;
• How to calculate hours worked for the purposes of the SB 973-mandated report; and,
• How to determine which employees must be included in the SB 973-mandated report.

January 15, 2021: The California Legislature passed SB 973 (Jackson) in 2020, becoming effective on January 1, 2021.  (See “California Passes Employer Pay Data Reporting Requirement” from Paul Hastings “Insights,” September 8, 2020; https://www.paulhastings.com/publications-items/details/?id=6370fe6f-2334-6428-811c-ff00004cbded). 

The bill imposed new pay reporting on some larger employers, including agricultural employers in the name of improving workplace gender pay equity.  SB 973 requires private employers of 100 or more employees who are required by federal law to file a Form EEO-1 with the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) to also submit a pay data report to DFEH each year by March 31.

It is unusual for agricultural employers to be required to file a Form EEO-1; employers must meet certain criteria to be required to file:

• First, you must be covered by Title VII of the Civil Rights Act; to be subject to Title VII, you must employ 15 or more persons on each working day on each of 20 or more calendar weeks in the current or preceding year.
• Second, if you meet the first test, you must file an EEO-1 if you either:
  • Have 100 or more employees or in a pay period selected by the employer occuring between October 1 and December 31 of the report year (many farm employers are not required to file an EEO-1 because the seasonal nature of their business means they are free to select a pay period in this time frame when they have fewer than 100 employees);
  • Are a federal contractor with 50 or more employees and have a contract worth $50,000 or more.

If you are required under these criteria to file a Form EEO-1, SB 973 requires you to further file with DFEH:

• The number of employees by race, ethnicity, and sex in each of ten broad job categories; and
• The number of employees by race, ethnicity, and sex whose annual earnings (defined as W-2 income) fall within each of the pay bands established by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics in the Occupational Employment Statistics survey.

DFEH recently published additional Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) (https://www.dfeh.ca.gov/paydatareporting/) on its website on compliance with these new reporting requirements.  Unfortunately, those FAQ do not address whether an employer must file information on employees that may work in states other than California, or employees working in California for employers headquartered in another state.

As always, if you have questions or concerns, please contact us at 800-753-9073 or info@fels.net.