Employment: payment of wages.

Senator Limón's wage transparency legislation modifies California's pay disclosure and discrimination laws by redefining employer obligations around salary information and extending the timeline for wage discrimination claims. The bill revises the definition of "pay scale" to explicitly require good faith salary range estimates from employers and mandates that companies with 15 or more employees include these ranges in job postings.

The legislation strengthens wage discrimination protections by prohibiting employers from paying different wages based on sex, race, or ethnicity for substantially similar work. It establishes that discriminatory wage payments stemming from ongoing compensation practices constitute continuing violations, allowing affected employees to pursue claims within three years of when a discriminatory decision is made, when they become subject to it, or when they are impacted by its application. The bill also requires employers to maintain detailed wage history records for the duration of employment plus three years.

Under the enforcement provisions, the Labor Commissioner may investigate complaints and levy civil penalties ranging from $100 to $10,000 per violation, with first-time offenders able to avoid penalties by updating non-compliant job postings. Collected penalties will fund the Labor Enforcement and Compliance Fund for ongoing enforcement activities. The legislation applies to both public and private employers, while preserving employers' ability to consider voluntarily disclosed salary history and discuss compensation expectations with applicants.