EEO-1 Component 1 Down … Component 2 Pay Data Up Next

By F. Christopher Chrisbens on

The May 31, 2019, deadline for filing EEO-1 Component 1 race-and-gender data has come and gone. The portal for filing Component 1 data will remain open for several more months, however, and there are no fines or penalties for filing late.

EEO-1 Component 2 pay-and-hours-worked data is due by September 30, 2019 (the same day federal contractor VETS-4212 reports are due). However, employers will find nothing on EEOC’s website regarding Component 2. For now, only the draft materials and sample forms EEOC published in 2016 are available. For a copy of those materials, please contact this blog’s author through the link above or at Christopher.Chrisbens@jacksonlewis.com.

EEOC expects to publish updated materials before the opening of the EEO-1 Component 2 filing portal in mid-July. When open, the portal will be https://eeoccomp2.norc.org/. EEOC states that it hopes to have an operational helpdesk soon. It will be at EEOCcompdata@norc.org and (877) 324-6214.

Filers should keep in mind the following points for successfully completing the required reports:

  • Two Reports – 2017 and 2018: covered employers will file two reports; one using the 2017 Component 1 workforce snapshot, and the second using the 2018 workforce snapshot used for 2018 Component 1.
  • W-2, Box 1 Pay Data: Contrary to the mistaken heading in the draft 2016 forms, do not file “Annual Salary” data. Rather, use 2017 and 2018 yearend W-2, Box 1 pay data to slot each snapshot employee into one of the 12 pay bands in each EEO category.
  • Hours Worked: For non-exempt workers, report aggregate hours worked (or on call) for the number of employees in each cell. Hours worked means just that – excluding paid time on leave, vacation, PTO, and the like and not working. For example, if there are 5 non-minority women in the second pay band in EEO category 3 Technicians, aggregate the total number of hours these women worked for the calendar year in the corresponding cell.

For exempt workers, assume that each full-time employee works 40 hours per week and multiply 40 hours per week by the number of weeks in the calendar year each worker was “employed” by the reporting company. No need to exclude non-work hours. For part-timers, assume each worked 20 hours per week and multiply by the number of weeks “employed.” For example, if there are 5 Black men in the first pay band of EEO category 2 Professionals, calculate for each employee 40/20 hours/week multiplied by the number of weeks he was employed, aggregate the figures for the 5 men, and provide that data in the appropriate cell.There will be much work involved to pull the pay, hours worked, and race/gender data from multiple systems, reconcile the data, and determine hours worked and weeks employed.We will provide updates as they are available. If you need assistance with EEO-1 reporting, or pay equity analyses, please contact your Jackson Lewis attorney.

 

Alabama Passes New Pay Equity Act

By Thomas A. Davis and Yvonne Norris Maddalena on

Yesterday, Alabama’s Governor, Kay Ivey, signed a new law that would prohibit employers from paying less for the same work on the basis of gender or race. After both the House and the Senate approved the bill, it was sent back with an executive amendment from Governor Ivey on May 30, 2019. Upon approval of that amendment by the Alabama House and Senate, the law just received the necessary executive signature for enactment. With the passage of this law, titled the Clarke-Figures Equal Pay Act, only Mississippi remains without any state equal pay legislation in place.

Employers should be aware that the new law allows for differences in pay for the same work when based on reasons such as seniority or a merit system. Further, such differences may be supported by any system that measures earnings by the quantity or quality of production or a differential that is “based on any factor other than sex or race.”

Any employee filing a claim for unequal pay against his or her employer bears the burden of pleading with particularity that (1) the employee was paid less for the same work despite possessing equal skill, effort, education, experience and responsibility, and (2) the applicable wage schedule does not correlate to any conditions permissible under the Act.

The Clarke Figures Equal Pay Act also mandates that employers may not refuse to interview, hire, promote or employ any applicant or retaliate against any applicant because that applicant does not provide a wage history.

Any violations of either the unequal pay subsection or the mandate preventing actions based on a failure to provide a wage history would require the employer to pay the employee all monies owed, plus interest. Employees will have two years from the alleged act of discrimination to file a lawsuit.

The new law also requires employers to adopt the rules for record keeping established under the Fair Labor Standards Act. The Clarke-Figures Equal Pay Act will take effect September 1, 2019.

Colorado Passes Comprehensive Equal Pay Law

By Laura A. Mitchell and James D. Mackey on

Colorado Governor Jared Polis has signed what is one of the toughest enhanced state pay equity laws to date. Colorado has become the tenth state in the country to pass an equal pay law that is more demanding than federal law. The new law goes into effect on January 1, 2021.

Just before the close of the legislative session on May 22, and after months of debate and considerable amendment, two Republicans joined Colorado Senate Democrats in passing the “Equal Pay for Equal Work Act” (SB 19-085). It shares similarities with other enhanced state equal pay laws, including provisions on pay equity, pay history, and pay transparency. However, unlike other states, the Colorado law contains unique notice requirements.

Unique to Colorado

The Colorado Equal Pay for Equal Work Act includes the following two notice requirements, which are found in no other state equal pay law:

  • Employers must make reasonable efforts to announce, post, or make known all opportunities for promotion to all current employees on the same calendar day.
  • Employers must disclose in each posting for each job opening the hourly or salary compensation, or a range of the hourly or salary compensation, and a general description of all benefits and other compensation offered.

Key Provisions

The new law protects against discrimination because of sex (including gender identity) or sex in combination with another protected status. Employers may not pay an employee of one sex less than an employee of another sex for substantially similar work.

However, an employer can avoid legal liability under the new law if it demonstrates that the entire difference in compensation is based on at least one of the following:

  1. A seniority system;
  2. A merit system;
  3. A system that measures earning by quantity or quality of production;
  4. The geographic location where the work is performed;
  5. Education, training, or experience to the extent that they are reasonably related to the work in question; or
  6. Travel, if a regular and necessary condition of the work performed.

The new law creates a private right of action for employees. A successful plaintiff may recover up to three years of back pay and liquidated damages in the amount of the back pay, unless the employer can show the “act or omission giving rise” to the pay violations was made in good faith.

“Mini-Safe Harbor”

Similar to equal pay laws in Massachusetts and Oregon, the Colorado law provides an incentive for employers to conduct proactive self-evaluations of their compensation practices. While not a complete defense against lawsuits, employers may use evidence of a “thorough and comprehensive pay audit” with the “specific goal of identifying and remedying unlawful pay disparities” to avoid an award for liquidated damages.

Pay History

Colorado joins nine other states with statewide salary history bans applicable to both public and private employers.

Under the new Colorado law, employers may not:

  1. Seek the wage history of a prospective employee;
  2. Rely on the wage history of a prospective employee to determine a wage rate; or
  3. Discriminate or retaliate against a prospective employee for failing to disclose wage history.

Pay Transparency

Finally, the new law prohibits employers from preventing their employees from discussing compensation information with others, or requiring any employee to sign a waiver that prohibits his or her ability to do the same.

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Employers in Colorado should consider reviewing their pay policies and practices with employment counsel and stay tuned for further compliance updates. Please contact a Jackson Lewis attorney with any questions related to this and other workplace developments.

EEOC Decides to Collect 2017 Pay Data In Addition to Data for 2018

By Laura A. Mitchell on

One of the biggest outstanding questions about the recently reinstated pay data reporting obligation was whether employers will be required to provide more than one year of pay data during this reporting cycle.  EEOC has made its decision.

Please find the full article in our Affirmative Action & OFCCP Law Advisor blog here.

Washington Adds Pay History Ban, Transparency Requirements

By James D. Mackey on

Washington is the latest state to pass additional pay equity protections. One year after enacting the 2018 Equal Pay and Opportunity Act, which included an array of enhanced pay equity provisions, the legislature passed HB 1696, which restricts pay history inquires and enhances pay transparency requirements. The bill passed on a near party-line vote. Governor Jay Inslee is expected to sign the legislation, which would go into effect 90 days later.

Pay History

Washington will be the eighth state to ban all public and private employers from (1) seeking the wage or salary history from an applicant or the applicant’s current or former employer; or (2) relying on prior wage or salary history to set pay.

Pay Transparency

HB 1696 also includes a requirement that after an employment offer has been made, employers (with at least fifteen employees), upon request, provide the minimum wage or salary for the applicant’s new position. Additionally, if requested, employers must provide wage scale or salary ranges for internally transferred employees.

Finally, when no wage or salary range exists, employers must provide the minimum wage or salary expectation prior to posting the position, making the position transfer, or making the promotion.

What Should Employers Do?

Employers, if they have not already done so, should consider removing salary history questions from employment application materials and train all recruiters to comply with state and local bans regarding salary history.

Our Pay Equity Resource Group will continue to report on this and other pay equity laws as they develop.

Additional Pay Data Reporting Order Details

By Laura A. Mitchell on

It’s here and it’s real.  The written order memorializing Judge Chutkan’s oral Order setting the September 30, 2019 deadline for collection of employer pay data reveals these additional details:

  • EEOC is ordered to collect EEO-1 Component 2 pay data for calendar years 2017 and 2018

Please find the full article in our Affirmative Action & OFCCP Law Advisor blog here.

Breaking News: Judge Orders EEOC to Collect Pay Data by September 30th

By Laura A. Mitchell on

Judge Tanya S. Chutkan has ordered initial compliance with the EEO-1 pay data reporting obligation by September 30, 2019.

As we previously reported, the EEOC has informed the court it could complete collection of data by September 30th by utilizing the services of a third party vendor, though there would be quality and integrity concerns.  As proposed, the data collection would begin July 15th.

Please find the full article in our Affirmative Action & OFCCP Law Advisor blog here.

Colorado State Senate Affirms Equal Pay Law…Will it Pass in 2019?

By Stacey A. Bastone and James D. Mackey on

Colorado legislators are only a few steps away from approving the Colorado “Equal Pay for Equal Work Act” (SB 19-085) and making Colorado the latest state to enact enhanced equal pay legislation.

Colorado’s 2019 Equal Pay Law, as originally introduced in January, would likely have been the most aggressive equal pay law in the nation. While the current bill would still be among the most stringent, hearings held on the law in February resulted in a number of employer-friendly amendments. Prominent among these changes was the addition of several defenses now available to employers to explain pay differences between employees such as geographic location, training, education, and travel.

During recent debate in the Colorado Senate, Republicans offered an amendment that would have removed the private right of action and kept enforcement of state equal pay violations with the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment. The amendment failed (16-19) along party lines, and no substantive changes have been made since the proposed law cleared committees in late-February. The Colorado Senate approved the final bill 20-14, with two Republicans joining 18 Democrats.

It is now a race against time for the bill to pass, as the Colorado Legislature is set to adjourn on May 3. SB 19-085 is scheduled for a hearing in the House Business Affairs and Labor Committee before moving to the House Floor for a final vote. Democrats (all expected to vote in favor of the law) hold a 41-24 advantage in the Colorado House. If the bill moves forward unchanged, it would then head to Governor Jared Polis, who is likely to sign it. However, if the House amends the bill, its fate becomes more questionable as it would have to return for re-passage by the Senate with only a few days left in the legislative session or be re-introduced at the beginning of 2020.

We will continue to monitor and report on this any other developments in equal pay laws.

Judge Orders Hearing in EEO-1 Pay Data Reporting Case

By Laura A. Mitchell on

It appears employers will need to wait a bit longer to learn when they will be required to file their EEO-1 pay data.

In an order filed April 11, Judge Tanya S. Chutkan set a hearing for 2:00 p.m. Eastern on April 16, 2019 for the parties to present their cases regarding the government’s compliance with her order to reinstate the EEO-1 pay data reporting obligation.

Please find the rest of this article on our Affirmative Action & OFCCP Law Advisor blog here.

EEO-1 Pay Data Reporting Update

By Laura A. Mitchell on

In a status update filed April 3, 2019, the government informed the court that EEOC could complete collection of the required EEO-1 Component 2 pay data by September 30, 2019, but only if it utilized a third party data collector to do so.

The update was filed in response to Judge Tanya S. Chutkan’s request that the government provide the court with its plan to comply with her March 4, 2019 ruling that over-turned the stay on the pay data reporting obligation.

Please find the rest of this article on our Affirmative Action & OFCCP Law Advisor.

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