BILL NUMBER: AB 1354 ENROLLED
BILL TEXT
PASSED THE SENATE SEPTEMBER 4, 2015
PASSED THE ASSEMBLY SEPTEMBER 8, 2015
AMENDED IN SENATE SEPTEMBER 2, 2015
AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 31, 2015
AMENDED IN SENATE JULY 7, 2015
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JUNE 1, 2015
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Dodd
(Coauthors: Assembly Members Bonilla, Bonta, Chávez, Cooper,
Eggman, Cristina Garcia, Gonzalez, and Lopez)
(Coauthors: Senators Allen, Block, Galgiani, Hall, Hancock, Leyva,
Mitchell, and Wolk)
FEBRUARY 27, 2015
An act to amend Section 12990 of the Government Code, relating to
discrimination.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 1354, Dodd. 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 enact the Equal Pay for Equal Work Act of 2015.
The bill would require an employer with 100 or more employees in
state, as specified, and a contract of 30 days or more, prior to
becoming a contractor or subcontractor with the state, to submit a
nondiscrimination program to the Department of Fair Employment and
Housing and to submit periodic reports no more than annually of its
compliance with that program. The bill would authorize the department
to require approval and certification of the program. The bill would
permit the department to require an employer with fewer than 100
employees in state or a contract of less than 30 days to submit a
nondiscrimination report. The bill would require the department to
define an employee for these purposes. The bill would require the
nondiscrimination program to include policies and procedures designed
to ensure equal employment opportunities for all applicants and
employees, an analysis of employment selection procedures, and a
workforce analysis, as specified. The bill would specify that its
provisions are not to be construed to negate certain exemptions
established by regulation that predate its enactment or to require
the department to reevaluate the validity of these exemptions, as
specified. The bill would make a statement of legislative findings.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. This act shall be known, and may be cited, as the Equal
Pay for Equal Work Act of 2015.
SEC. 2. (a) The Legislature finds and declares the following:
(1) According to data from the United States Census Bureau,
full-time working women, on average, over the last decade, have
continued to earn just 77 cents for every dollar a man earns. The
wage gap is greater for women of color, with African American women
being paid an average of 64 cents for every dollar paid to white,
non-Hispanic men in 2013 and Latinas being paid just 56 cents for
every dollar paid to white, non-Hispanic men.
(2) This wage disparity amounted to a yearly average wage gap of
$10,876 in 2013 between full-time working men and full-time working
women. In total, the disparity represents more than $490 billion in
lost wages for working women every year.
(3) Disparities in pay for women have numerous negative impacts.
This pay differential shortchanges women and their families by
thousands of dollars a year and potentially hundreds of thousands of
dollars over a lifetime. Nearly 4 in 10 mothers are primary
breadwinners in their households, and nearly two-thirds are
significant earners, making pay equity critical to the economic
security of their families.
(4) Equal pay for equal work is a fundamental precept in our
nation and in California. Federal law, including the federal Equal
Pay Act of 1963 (Public Law 88-38), Title VII of the Civil Rights Act
of 1964 (Public Law 88-352), and Executive Order 11246 of September
24, 1965, entitled Equal Employment Opportunity, specifically
prohibits arbitrarily compensating men and women differently for the
same work, as does California's Equal Pay Act.
(5) On August 6, 2014, the United States Department of Labor's
Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs issued a notice of
proposed rulemaking to required covered federal contractors and
subcontractors with more than 100 employees to submit an annual equal
pay report on employee compensation. In California, state
contractors receiving public money are obligated to comply with equal
pay laws and should provide the state with aggregate wage data to
advance pay equity.
(b) It is the intent of the Legislature in enacting this act to
promote pay equity and nondiscrimination in setting pay and making
hiring or promotional decisions, and to obtain better data on pay
equity to more wholly address the problem.
SEC. 3. 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) (A) (i) Prior to becoming a contractor or subcontractor
with the state, an employer with 100 or more employees in the state
and a contract of 30 days or more shall submit a nondiscrimination
program to the department and shall submit periodic reports, no more
than annually, of its compliance with that program. An employer with
fewer than 100 employees in the state or a contract of less than 30
days may be required to submit a nondiscrimination program and, if so
required, shall comply with the requirements for employers with 100
or more employees in the state. The department may require approval
and certification of a nondiscrimination program. The department
shall define an employee for the purposes of this paragraph.
(ii) An employee in the construction industry covered by a valid
collective bargaining agreement that expressly provides for the
wages, hours of work, and working conditions of employees, premium
wage rates for all overtime worked, and regular hourly pay of not
less than 30 percent of the state minimum wage rate shall be excluded
from calculation of the employer's total number of employees for
purposes of this subparagraph.
(B) The changes made to this subdivision made by the act adding
this subparagraph shall not be construed to negate an exemption to
the requirements of this section in existence on January 1, 2016,
created by the department through the exercise of its regulatory
authority, or to otherwise require the department to reinterpret the
validity of an exemption as a result of these changes.
(2) A nondiscrimination program shall include policies and
procedures designed to ensure equal employment opportunities for all
applicants and employees, an analysis of employment selection
procedures, and a workforce analysis. The workforce analysis shall
include the following:
(A) The total number of workers with a specific job category
identified by worker race, ethnicity, and sex.
(B) Total wages required to be reported on Internal Revenue
Service Form W-2 for all workers in a specific job category
identified by worker race, ethnicity, and sex.
(C) The total hours worked on an annual basis for all workers in a
specific job category identified by worker race, ethnicity, and sex.
Exempt employees shall be presumed to work 40 hours a week for
purposes of this reporting requirement.
(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) 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 department may
recommend 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.