U.S. - California - San Francisco Equal Pay Ordinance guide
Introduction
The San Francisco Equal Pay Ordinance took effect July 1, 2018. The Equal Pay Ordinance requires certain contractors to file Equal Pay Reports annually with the City's Human Rights Commission.
It established an Equal Pay Advisory Board to analyze and recommend how to collect wage gap data in a meaningful way while maintaining a minimal burden on contractors reporting the data. The San Francisco Equal Pay Ordinance was the first law in the U.S. to require reports from contractors on pay equity by gender, race, and gender and race combined.
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San Francisco Law Requirements
The ordinance prohibits discrimination in employment (including job candidates) based on the following protected classes: the fact or perception of that person's race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, domestic partner status, marital status, disability, weight, height, AIDS/HIV status, or association with members of any of the foregoing classes.
Under the ordinance, contractors on large projects with the City of San Francisco that have at least 20 employees worldwide must submit an annual Equal Pay Report containing "summary information on compensation paid employees," broken out by gender, race, and gender and race together. There are additional requirements, which depend on the nature of the contract:
- Construction and public works: Contractors or subcontractors with an agreement value equal to or in excess of $600,000 (Threshold Amount in S.F. Admin Code Chapter 6).
- Goods and professional services: Contractors or subcontractors with an agreement value equal to or in excess of $110,000 (Minimum Competitive Amount in S.F. Admin. Code Chapter 21).
- Non-profit grant recipients: An agreement value equal to or in excess of $50,000.
In addition to San Francisco's requirements for contractors, as of Jan. 1, 2023, all California employers with 100 or more employees are required to annually submit pay data reports at the state level.
The Risks of Non-Compliance
The Human Rights Commission (HRC) is authorized to investigate whether discrimination is occurring by contractors and recommend measures for enforcement when necessary.
If the HRC investigates an employer and finds probable cause to believe that discrimination has occurred, then the contractor could face monetary penalties and/or risk losing its contract with the City and County of San Francisco. The HRC may also make recommendations for corrective actions to promote equity and encourage fair employment practices.
How Can Trusaic Assist with San Francisco's Equal Pay Ordinance Requirements?
1. Comply - Use Trusaic's GPDR solution to complete required reporting by compliance deadlines:
Applicability Determination: Perform an accurate assessment of your applicability, according to jurisdictional specific definitions and regulatory frameworks so you can understand your reporting obligations across the globe.
Deadline Management: Prepare ahead of time with project timelines, timely notifications, and reminders, to keep you on track to meeting jurisdictional deadlines.
Expert Legal Guidance and Support: Benefit from the expertise of our trusted pay equity attorneys, so you understand your compliance requirements across a diverse global regulatory landscape.
Receive world-class customer support, including assistance throughout the compliance process.
Streamlined Data Extraction - Collect the necessary data for analysis and submission with a simple click of a button; powered by certified data integrations with the world's largest HCM, HR and Payroll platforms, including Workday, SAP, UKG and ADP.
Provide data through Trusaic's Workplace Equity platform, a SOC 2 Type II and GDPR-compliant tool for data transmission.
Data Quality Assurance: Trusaic performs data validations to ensure your collected data and information aligns with the standards and definitions provided by each jurisdiction.
Compliant Report Outputs: Take away the burden of reporting by effortlessly generating outputs containing necessary compliance information.
Reporting Checklist: Follow step-by-step guidance on where, when and how to report to any jurisdiction's regulatory body, as well as your required internal disclosure and public posting obligations.
2. Correct - Use PayParity and OpportunityParity to understand, explain and resolve pay disparities:
Risk Assessments: Stay aware of any potential exposure to any government audit or litigation.
Our cross-functional team of data scientists, statisticians, and government regulatory compliance experts have rigorously worked to reverse-engineer the calculations that will be used by jurisdictions to estimate pay disparities, so you can prepare in advance.
Understand your Pay Gaps: Leverage Trusaic's PayParity solution to explain your pay gaps so you can understand the root causes and safeguard from equal pay claims and legal action.
Resolve Pay Disparities: Make pay adjustments where applicable so you can eliminate pay disparities and show improvements in your reported pay gaps from one year to the next.
Identify Barriers to Professional Growth: Ensure workforce diversity and equity with hiring, promotion, retention, and opportunity analytics using OpportunityParity.
3. Communicate - Use Trusaic's Workplace Equity Solution to communicate narratives and share salary ranges with confidence:
Pay Equity Narrative: Communicate the sources of your pay gaps, progress objectives, and corrective measures to employees and internal stakeholders with Trusaic's Workplace Equity product suite.
Show data-backed progress in your pay gaps over time.
Salary Range Explainability: Use Salary Range Finder to establish and post competitive and equitable pay ranges to confidently comply with pay transparency laws.
Mitigate Risk of Recurrent Pay Disparities: Ensure new hires receive fair pay offers with the use of external labor market data and internal pay equity analytics to reduce unplanned and expensive pay remediations.
Sign up for PayParity by October 31, 2024
and receive OpportunityParityTM at no additional cost
Sign up for PayParity by October 31, 2024 and receive OpportunityParityTM at no additional cost