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 2 and released more FAQs on November 23. And now, DFEH has again released new FAQs and updated its pay data reporting website.
According to the DFEH, the User Guide and Template are anticipated to be available on February 1, 2021. In addition, the Data Submission Portal will be available on February 15, 2021. The new FAQs also cover these, and other, important topics:
- What pay to include in the report (the value reported in the Box 5 of the employee’s W-2, reflecting “Medicare wages and tips”);
- What to do if the company issues a corrected W-2 (update the pay data report with the state);
- Whether it report should include paid time off in the hours worked calculation (it should);
- How to calculate hours worked for exempt employees (either actual hours worked or number of days worked multiplied by the average number of hours worked per day).
If you have questions about what SB 973 requires or would like to discuss how to prepare for this annual pay data reporting—or even options for assistance with report preparation, analysis, and submission—please contact a Jackson Lewis attorney to discuss.
Jackson Lewis attorneys will continue to monitor California’s pay data reporting and other pay equity issues.