Employer pay data.

Senator Smallwood-Cuevas's employer pay data reporting legislation expands California's existing requirements by mandating separate demographic data storage and extending reporting obligations to public employers. The measure requires private employers with 100 or more employees to maintain demographic information collected for pay data reports separately from personnel records, while implementing mandatory civil penalties for non-compliance.

Beginning May 2027, the reporting framework extends to public employers with 100 or more employees, who must submit annual reports detailing employee demographic data across civil service job categories. These reports must include information on ethnicity, race, disability status, veteran status, and gender, while maintaining individual privacy through data aggregation. The legislation specifies that courts must impose penalties of up to $100 per employee for initial reporting failures and up to $200 per employee for subsequent violations, with proceeds directed to the Civil Rights Enforcement and Litigation Fund.

The measure includes provisions for handling data from labor contractors, requiring private employers to submit separate reports for contract employees and disclose contractor ownership information. To protect employee privacy, the bill designates individually identifiable information as confidential and exempt from public records requests, while allowing the Civil Rights Department to publish aggregate statistical reports that prevent identification of specific individuals or businesses.