Yes, it’s that time of year again! Private employers in California with 100 or more employees, or 100 or more workers hired through staffing agencies, must file their annual pay data report to the California Civil Rights Department (“CRD”) no later than May 14, 2025.
This annual report must include the California employer’s mean and median hourly compensation data for all employees broken down by race, ethnicity, and gender. For this 2025 reporting period, the CRD has added “Middle Eastern or North African” as a new race/ethnicity category. In addition, the CRD has changed last year’s “Two or more races” category to “Multiracial and/or Multiethnic” and “Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander” to “Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander” (removing the word “other”).
For each reported employee in 2025, employers must use the employee’s 2024 wages, as reported on the employee’s W-4, to place the employee in one of 12 pay bands. The 12 pay bands used last year remain the same for 2025. For each reported employee, employer must also indicate which employees live and work in California and which employees work remotely and live outside California. An employer who fails to timely comply faces penalties of up to $100 per employee for the first offense and $200 per employee for subsequent violations.
For the first time, the CRD has published a handbook that guides eligible employers through their reporting requirements and answers common questions. You can find the new 2025 California Pay Data Reporting Handbook here. The portal that an eligible employer must use to report its pay data can be found here.
