Civil Rights Department.

Plain English Breakdown

The bill summary does not provide specific details on how penalties will be enforced or collected, nor does it specify which private employers are required to file these reports.

Civil Rights Department Reporting and Penalties

This legislation requires the Civil Rights Department to publish annual reports about its budget and enforcement activities and increases penalties for employers who fail to submit required pay data reports.

What This Bill Does

• Requires the Civil Rights Department to annually publish a report of aggregate budgetary and enforcement information related to the Civil Rights Enforcement and Litigation Fund.
• Increases the penalty for private employers who do not file an annual pay data report, raising it from $200 per employee to up to $1,000 per employee for repeat offenses.

Who It Names or Affects

• The Civil Rights Department
• Private employers required to submit annual pay data reports

Terms To Know

Civil Rights Enforcement and Litigation Fund

A fund used by the Civil Rights Department to cover costs related to enforcing civil rights laws.

Pay Data Report

A report that private employers must submit each year, detailing employee pay rates and demographic information like race, ethnicity, and gender.

Limits and Unknowns

• The bill does not specify how the increased penalties will be enforced or collected.
• It is unclear which specific private employers are required to file these reports.

Official Summary Text

SB 1237, as introduced, Blakespear.
Civil Rights Department.
Existing law establishes the Civil Rights Department to administer and enforce various laws relating to civil rights, including the California Fair Employment and Housing Act. Existing law establishes the Civil Rights Enforcement and Litigation Fund to be administered by the department, and authorizes the department to use the moneys in the fund upon appropriation by the Legislature in the annual Budget Act to offset the costs of the department.
This bill would require the department to annually publish a report of the aggregate budgetary and enforcement information for the fund, as specified.
Existing law requires certain private employers to annually submit a pay data report to the department that includes, among other information, the number of employees by race, ethnicity, and sex, as specified, and,
within each job category, for each combination of race, ethnicity, and sex, the median and mean hourly rate. Upon request from the Civil Rights Department, existing law requires a court to impose a civil penalty not to exceed $100 per employee upon any employer who fails to file the required report and not to exceed $200 per employee upon any employer for a subsequent failure to file the required report. Existing law requires these penalties to be payable to the fund described above.
This bill would increase the penalty for subsequent failures to file the report described above to an amount not to exceed $1,000 per employee.

Current Bill Text

Download Bill PDF