Photo of Laura A. Mitchell

Laura Mitchell is a principal in the Denver office of Jackson Lewis P.C. and leads the firm’s Workplace Analytics and Preventive Strategies Pay Equity subgroup. She partners with employers to evaluate, develop and implement policies and practices that ensure workplace fairness while mitigating legal risk. Laura is a guiding force in the firm’s most specialized and technical practice areas where she leverages an analytics-focused approach to partner with her clients in building legally compliant programs around which they can anchor their workplaces achieving productivity and stability.

Laura understands that creating a competitive advantage for employers in today’s workplace involves using a data-driven approach to counsel companies on the development of proactive and equitable non-discriminatory practices in hiring, promotions, separations and pay—and where advancements in technology can create both opportunities for efficiencies and risk that can be measured. Committed to putting her clients’ organizational goals first and foremost while balancing legal risk, Laura views herself as an extension of her clients’ team, responsible for providing proactive guidance and engaging in transparent, ongoing communication. Staying the course with employers across their organizational journey while balancing legal compliance obligations throughout their employees’ lifecycle ensures Laura’s position as a go-to resource.

Laura works with companies across all industries—both new and well-established multi-national organizations of all sizes—to realize the combined vision of legal compliance, increased productivity and economic growth enhanced by a focus on pay equity.  As part of the pay equity journey, she advises employers on the evolving pay transparency landscape, working to align compliant practices with the practical realities of the business world.

Laura partners closely with government contractors to understand, implement and demonstrate compliance with their EEO regulatory and compliance obligations. She also works closely with non-government contractor clients to conduct risk assessments of their programs, policies, and training to align with federal and state anti-discrimination requirements.

Laura is the editor and a principal contributor of the GovCon Employment Exchange blog and presents on pay equity and government contractor obligations. To round out her days, Laura enjoys spending time with her family and friends attending sports events, working out, riding her bike, playing pickleball and taking in Colorado’s incomparable sunsets.

The California Civil Rights Department (CRD) has released its Reporting Year (RY) 2025 Pay Data Reporting FAQ and Handbook. The statute remains familiar, but the filing mechanics this cycle are not.  CRD’s materials emphasize a prescribed file structure, add required data elements, and signal that conformity to the current-year template will be central to

California’s annual pay data reporting submission this year is due on May 13, 2026.  Each cycle, the California Civil Rights Department (CRD) typically releases updated guidance for that year’s reporting in early February. 

While we await this annual guidance, CRD has already provided preliminary templates for payroll employee and labor contractor pay data reporting

California’s pay data reporting rules are now more burdensome.

Senate Bill 464, signed into law on October 13, 2025, enhances existing pay reporting requirements to address wage disparities. It introduces strict changes for private employers, effective in 2026 and 2027, including stricter penalties and reporting on new job categories.

Current Reporting Rules

Private employers

State legislatures continue to pass laws designed to enhance pay equity and transparency, with the laws of California and Colorado effective in 2021. The California law requires employee pay data reporting by race and gender, and the Colorado law requires robust pay and promotional transparency.

California

Under California’s pay data reporting law (SB 973), most