The governor has signed into law the latest in a series of bills by a Santa Barbara legislator intended to help close race and gender pay gaps.
SB 973 requires employers in California with 100 or more employees to submit a pay data report to the state. Employers will need to supply information on compensation and hours worked by gender, race, ethnicity, and type of job.
The information could prompt companies to fix inequities they may spot, and give the state an enforcement tool for ones which don’t voluntarily comply.
The legislation was authored by Democratic State Senator Hannah-Beth Jackson of Santa Barbara. She says the pay gap costs workers an estimated $79 billion dollars a year in California.
