BILL NUMBER: AB 1017 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 26, 2015
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Campos
FEBRUARY 26, 2015
An act relating to employment. An act to
amend Section 12990 of the Government Code, relating to
discrimination, and making an appropriation therefor.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 1017, as amended, Campos. Wages: gender pay equity.
Discrimination: equal pay: state contracting.
Existing law subjects an employer who is, or wishes to become, a
contractor with the state for public works, or for goods or services,
to various nondiscrimination requirements. Existing law authorizes
requiring an employer to submit a nondiscrimination program to the
Department of Fair Employment and Housing for approval and
certification, prior to becoming a contractor or subcontractor with
the state, as well as requiring the provision of periodic reports of
contractor or subcontractor compliance with that program.
This bill would require an employer with 100 or more employees,
prior to becoming a contractor or subcontractor with the state, to
submit an income equality program to the Department of Fair
Employment and Housing for approval and certification and to submit
periodic reports of its compliance with that program. The bill would
require the income equality program to include the collection of
summary data on the compensation paid to employees, including, but
not limited to, data sorted by gender and race, and policies designed
to ensure income equality and prevent unlawful discrimination.
Existing law authorizes the Department of Fair Employment and
Housing, where the department determines and certifies that specified
provisions relating to nondiscrimination are violated or determines
a contractor or subcontractor is engaging in certain unlawful
practices, to recommend appropriate sanctions to the awarding agency.
This bill would require the contractor or subcontractor to be
subject to a civil penalty of not less than $10,000 if the department
makes the determination and certification described above. This bill
would require the penalty to be deposited in the Fair Employment
Fund, which the bill would create, and would continuously appropriate
the money in the fund to the department to be used for specified
purposes. By creating a continuously appropriated fund, this bill
would make an appropriation.
Existing law generally prohibits an employer from paying an
employee at wage rates less than the rates paid to employees of the
opposite sex in the same establishment. Existing law further imposes
penalties on an employer who violates this provision, subjecting the
employer to civil action and specifying liquidated damages that may
be paid to an employee who is paid unfairly.
This bill would state the intent of the Legislature that would
require pay equity for women in the workplace.
Vote: majority 2/3 . Appropriation:
no yes . Fiscal committee: no
yes . State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 12990 of the
Government Code is amended to read:
12990. (a) Any employer who is, or wishes to become, a contractor
with the state for public works or for goods or services is subject
to the provisions of this part relating to discrimination in
employment and to the nondiscrimination requirements of this section
and any rules and regulations that implement it.
(b) (1) Prior to becoming a contractor or
subcontractor with the state, an employer may be required to submit a
nondiscrimination program to the department for approval and
certification and may be required to submit periodic reports of its
compliance with that program.
(2) Prior to becoming a contractor or subcontractor with the
state, an employer with 100 or more employees shall submit an income
equality program to the department for approval and certification and
shall be required to submit periodic reports of its compliance with
that program. The income equality program shall include the
collection of summary data on the compensation paid to employees,
including data sorted by gender and race, and include policies
designed to ensure income equality and prevent unlawful
discrimination.
(c) Every state contract and subcontract for public works or for
goods or services shall contain a nondiscrimination clause
prohibiting discrimination on the bases enumerated in this part by
contractors or subcontractors. The nondiscrimination clause shall
contain a provision requiring contractors and subcontractors to give
written notice of their obligations under that clause to labor
organizations with which they have a collective bargaining or other
agreement. These contractual provisions shall be fully and
effectively enforced. This subdivision does not apply to a credit
card purchase of goods of two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500)
or less. The total amount of exemption authorized herein shall not
exceed seven thousand five hundred dollars ($7,500) per year for each
company from which a state agency is purchasing goods by credit
card. It shall be the responsibility of each state agency to monitor
the use of this exemption and adhere to these restrictions on these
purchases.
(d) The department shall periodically develop rules and
regulations for the application and implementation of this section,
and submit them to the council for consideration and adoption in
accordance with the provisions of Chapter 3.5 (commencing with
Section 11340) of Part 1. Those rules and regulations shall describe
and include, but not be limited to, all of the following:
(1) Procedures for the investigation, approval, certification,
decertification, monitoring, and enforcement of nondiscrimination
programs.
(2) The size of contracts or subcontracts below which any
particular provision of this section shall not apply.
(3) The circumstances, if any, under which a contractor or
subcontractor is not subject to this section.
(4) Criteria for determining the appropriate plant, region,
division, or other unit of a contractor's or subcontractor's
operation for which a nondiscrimination program is required.
(5) Procedures for coordinating the nondiscrimination requirements
of this section and its implementing rules and regulations with the
California Plan for Equal Opportunity in Apprenticeship, with the
provisions and implementing regulations of Article 9.5 (commencing
with Section 11135) of Chapter 1 of Part 1, and with comparable
federal laws and regulations concerning nondiscrimination, equal
employment opportunity, and affirmative action by those who contract
with the United States.
(6) The basic principles and standards to guide the department in
administering and implementing this section.
(e) Where a contractor or subcontractor is required to prepare an
affirmative action, equal employment, or nondiscrimination program
subject to review and approval by a federal compliance agency, that
program may be filed with the department, instead of any
nondiscrimination program regularly required by this section or its
implementing rules and regulations. Such a program shall constitute a
prima facie demonstration of compliance with this section. Where the
department or a federal compliance agency has required the
preparation of an affirmative action, equal employment, or
nondiscrimination program subject to review and approval by the
department or a federal compliance agency, evidence of such a program
shall also constitute prima facie compliance with an ordinance or
regulation of any city, city and county, or county that requires an
employer to submit such a program to a local awarding agency for its
approval prior to becoming a contractor or subcontractor with that
agency.
(f) (1) Where the department determines and
certifies that the provisions of this section or its implementing
rules and regulations are violated or determines a contractor or
subcontractor is engaging in practices made unlawful under this part,
the contractor or subcontractor shall be subject to a civil
penalty of not less than ten thousand dollars ($10,000). The
department may recommend additional appropriate sanctions
to the awarding agency. Any such recommendation shall take into
account the severity of the violation or violations and any other
penalties, sanctions, or remedies previously imposed.
(2) (A) The penalty collected pursuant to paragraph (1) shall be
deposited in the Fair Employment Fund, which is hereby created in the
General Fund.
(B) Notwithstanding Section 13340, all money transferred to the
Fair Employment Fund is hereby continuously appropriated to the
department without regard to fiscal years for enforcement of the Fair
Employment and Housing Act and for education of employers and
employees of their rights and responsibilities under the act.
(C) Money appropriated to the department shall be used to
supplement, not supplant, other funding available to the department
for the purposes specified in subparagraph (B).
SECTION 1. It is the intent of the Legislature
to enact legislation that would require pay equity for women in the
workplace.