CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2021–2022 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill
No. 316

Introduced by Assembly Member Cooper

January 25, 2021

An act relating to state government.


LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


AB 316, as introduced, Cooper. State employees: pay equity: under-represented groups.
Existing law prohibits an employer, including both public and private employers, from paying any of its employees at wage rates less than the rates paid to employees of the opposite sex or another race or ethnicity for substantially similar work, when viewed as a composite of skill, effort, and responsibility, and performed under similar working conditions, unless the employer demonstrates the wage differential is based upon specified factors including, but not limited to, a seniority system, a merit system, or a system that measures earnings based on quality or quantity of production.
This bill would state the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation that would achieve pay equity in state employment across gender, racial, ethnic, and under-represented groups.
Vote: MAJORITY   Appropriation: NO   Fiscal Committee: NO   Local Program: NO  

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:


SECTION 1.

 The Legislature hereby finds and declares all of the following:
(a) In 2015, Governor Brown signed Senate Bill 358, known as the Fair Pay Act, which strengthened Section 1197.5 of the Labor Code, part of what is known as the California Equal Pay Act.
(b) In 2016, Governor Brown signed Senate Bill 1063, known as the Wage Equality Act of 2016, and Assembly Bill 1676, each of which made further improvements to the California Equal Pay Act.
(c) In 2017, Governor Brown signed Assembly Bill 168 and Assembly Bill 46, each making further enhancements to the California Equal Pay Act.

SEC. 2.

 It is the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation that would achieve pay equity in state employment across gender, racial, ethnic, and under-represented groups.