CALIFORNIA: California lawmakers gave final approval on to legislation that seeks to ensure equal compensation for women in the workplace by prohibiting employers from paying differing wages to employees who do “substantially similar work.”The measure passed the California Senate with a 40-0 vote after some leading business groups dropped their opposition.
The bill, which last week was approved 76-2 by the state Assembly, now will go to Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown, who has indicated he will sign it into law.The legislation would prohibit retaliation against employees who inquire about their colleagues’ salaries. It also would allow an employee to challenge pay based on the rate that other employees of the same company receive at different locations.
And it would require employers to show that pay rates are based on factors other than gender.The measure received backing from the California Chamber of Commerce after the bill’s author, state Sen. Hannah-Beth Jackson, a Democrat from Santa Barbara, agreed to amendments that narrowed the language of some of the provisions to protect employers from lawsuits.
“We don’t think this is going to increase litigation, we think it is going to provide an objective criteria where you can have legitimate wage differentials,” said Jennifer Barrera, policy advocate for the California Chamber of Commerce. “The bill specifies a legitimate basis upon which an employer can have a wage differential, and emphasizes that it cannot be based upon gender.”
