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

On September 27, 2022, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed Senate Bill (SB) 1162, which requires certain employers to provide more pay transparency on pay scales and expands pay data reporting obligations for other employers. The new obligations take effect on January 1, 2023.

Pay Transparency

Previously, under California law, employers had to provide an

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

California’s Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) continues to advance toward the March 31, 2021 pay data collection deadline.  When SB 973 was passed in September, DFEH had six months to develop and implement a data collection system that could accomplish the task.  It is delivering.  DFEH issued its first guidance on November

The deadline for employers to comply with California’s pay data reporting requirement (Senate Bill 973) and submit pay data to the Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) is March 31, 2021.

The DFEH has launched an information page that provides needed clarity on certain obligations and has issued additional guidance on the