Executive Summary: California’s amended Fair Pay Act goes into effect on January 1, 2016, and is considered the most stringent law in the nation. The new law received broad support from both Republicans and Democrats in the Legislature. It arises out of their finding that “in 2014, the gender wage gap in California stood at 16 cents on the dollar. A woman working full time year round earned an average of 84 cents to every dollar a man earned. This wage gap extends across almost all occupations reporting in California. This gap is far worse for women of color; Latina women in California make only 44 cents for every dollar a white male makes, the biggest gap for Latina women in the nation.” California’s equal pay law has been on the books since 1949, and prohibited employers from paying a woman less than a man when they are both doing “equal work” at the same establishment. The amended law requires equal pay for “substantially similar work.” (The law specifically prohibits discrimination based on sex, but in light of the Legislature’s focus on the gender wage gap, this article addresses pay discrimination allegations made by women.)
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