The Equal Pay Advisor

Nilan Johnson Lewis’ latest content on pay equity issues for employers.

Posted March 13, 2026 with Tags The Equal Pay Advisor

Changes to the 2025 Pay Data Reporting Requirements for California Employers

California’s Civil Rights Department (CRD) has released new FAQs and preliminary templates previewing substantial additions to the 2025 pay data reporting cycle. These updates introduce new data fields, expand employee grouping requirements, and increase the complexity of reporting for both …

Posted March 13, 2026 with Tags The Equal Pay Advisor

Equal Pay Day 2026

Equal Pay Day in the U.S. this year is March 26, 2026. The date symbolizes how far into the current year women must work to earn what men earned in the previous year. In other words, it is a marker …

Posted December 9, 2025 with Tags The Equal Pay Advisor

Delaware Passes New Pay Transparency Law

On September 26, 2025, Delaware’s governor signed into law House Substitute No. 2 for House Bill (HB) No. 105. Starting in September 2027, Delaware will require employers to disclose compensation and benefits information in job postings. This new law applies …

Posted December 9, 2025 with Tags The Equal Pay Advisor

California Modifies Pay Transparency and Fair Pay Requirements

Employers who recruit and employ workers in California should review their job posting and equal pay processes to ensure they comply with new pay transparency requirements, as well as an expanded definition of wages for purposes of equal pay claims. …

Posted December 9, 2025 with Tags The Equal Pay Advisor

How to Talk to Your Team About Pay Equity: A Guide for In-House Counsel

After pushing through the frantic period of year-end reviews and open enrollment, Human Resource and Payroll teams may bristle at another task. But after the 2025 dust settles, early 2026 is the perfect time to develop a plan for pay …

Posted September 23, 2025 with Tags The Equal Pay Advisor

Best Practices For Employers to Protect Privilege in Pay Equity Studies

Recent case law continues to underscore the importance of carefully structuring pay equity and compensation studies to preserve attorney-client privilege and work product protections. While the legal landscape remains consistent in its treatment of privilege where legal and business purposes …

Posted September 23, 2025 with Tags The Equal Pay Advisor

Massachusetts Pay Transparency Law Takes Effect In October

Massachusetts’ law on pay transparency and pay data reporting will take effect on October 29, 2025. The new law will require employers with 25 or more employees in the Commonwealth to disclose pay range information in job postings and, in …

Posted June 11, 2025 with Tags The Equal Pay Advisor

Washington State Doubles Down On Pay Equity

Washington State has been at the forefront of pay equity legislation, and recent amendments to its Equal Pay and Opportunities Act (EPOA), which take effect on July 27, 2025, introduce significant changes for employers. These updates modify pay transparency requirements …

Posted June 11, 2025 with Tags The Equal Pay Advisor

Balancing Pay Transparency Laws and PERM Process

More states, municipalities, and localities have imposed or continue to impose pay transparency requirements, specifically requiring employers to disclose a position’s pay range and offered benefits in job advertisements and postings. States like Minnesota, Illinois, California, and Washington have enacted …

Posted June 11, 2025 with Tags The Equal Pay Advisor

EEOC Abandons Disparate Impact Claims

Employers facing potential pay discrimination claims have historically faced two basic types of claims: disparate treatment claims and disparate impact claims. Because disparate impact claims are easier to raise on a class basis, employers have been particularly concerned about potential …

Posted March 12, 2025 with Tags The Equal Pay Advisor

New Jersey Passes New Pay Transparency Law

Starting June 1, 2025, employers with ten or more employees within the State of New Jersey will be required to include pay ranges in job postings and provide notice of promotional opportunities to current employees. Pay Transparency Requirements The new …

Posted March 12, 2025 with Tags The Equal Pay Advisor

Pay Data Reporting – Off the Hook or Temporary Reprieve?

In 2016, the EEOC announced big changes to EEO-1 reporting. The new initiative, led by Obama-era appointees, required employers to report an entirely new category of data covering pay and hours worked for the purpose of identifying potential pay equity …

Posted March 12, 2025 with Tags The Equal Pay Advisor

Trump Administration Attacks Pay Equity Practices

Employers have seen a whirlwind of activity from the Trump administration during its first month in office. The Administration has issued Executive Orders and other guidance impacting a myriad of employment issues. Employers are now assessing to adjust their practices …

Posted November 20, 2024 with Tags The Equal Pay Advisor

Look Out (Here Comes Tomorrow): New Pay Transparency Requirements Effective in 2025

As we have reported previously, 2024 saw a slew of states adopt new pay transparency laws. Several of those laws go into effect in 2025. They include new laws in Illinois and Minnesota (both effective January 1), Vermont (effective July …

Posted November 20, 2024 with Tags The Equal Pay Advisor

Reverse Discrimination and Pay Equity

Employers have seen a significant increase in reverse race and gender discrimination claims over the last four years. White and male employees are arguing that employer efforts to address historic race and gender inequities constitute “reverse discrimination.” The latest trend …

Posted September 4, 2024 with Tags The Equal Pay Advisor

Massachusetts Enacts New Pay Transparency and Reporting Requirements

A newly enacted Massachusetts law—effective July 1, 2025—will require employers with 25 or more employees in the Commonwealth to disclose pay range information in job postings and, in certain circumstances, provide current employees with information about pay for their roles. …

Posted September 4, 2024 with Tags The Equal Pay Advisor

Vermont Passes New Pay Transparency Law

Vermont will join a growing list of states and jurisdictions that require employers to disclose compensation in job advertisements on July 1, 2025. This new law applies to employers with five or more employees and to job openings that are …

Posted September 4, 2024 with Tags The Equal Pay Advisor

Modifying Pay Equity Audits to Address New Legal Requirements

Employers have been conducting pay equity audits for decades to identify disparities in compensation that may create unfairness, legal risk, or other compliance issues. Recently, however, we have seen a spate of new pay equity requirements at the federal, state, …

Posted June 3, 2024 with Tags The Equal Pay Advisor

Minnesota Passes New Pay Transparency Law

The Minnesota Legislature, on May 17, 2024, sent a new pay transparency law to Governor Walz, who signed the bill into law. Basic Requirements: Effective January 1, 2025, employers with at least 30 employees in Minnesota must include, in all …

Newsroom image for the post Washington, D.C. Enhances Pay Transparency and Expands Protections Regarding Compensation Discussion and Wage History

Posted June 3, 2024 with Tags The Equal Pay Advisor

Washington, D.C. Enhances Pay Transparency and Expands Protections Regarding Compensation Discussion and Wage History

Washington, D.C. added its name to the growing list of jurisdictions enhancing pay transparency requirements. Washington recently amended its ordinances to (1) require employers to disclose salary range or hourly pay in vacant positions and (2) further restrict employers from …

Posted June 3, 2024 with Tags The Equal Pay Advisor

Maryland Increases Pay Transparency Requirements

Maryland recently decided to increase the pay disclosure requirements applicable to employers posting positions for work performed in Maryland. Maryland employers must now disclose the wage range, salary, benefits, and any other compensation for internally and externally posted positions beginning …

Posted February 15, 2024 with Tags The Equal Pay Advisor

One to Watch: Massachusetts Considers New Pay Transparency Law

Basic Requirements Following a wave of pay transparency laws in other states, the Massachusetts House and Senate each passed their respective versions of a bill that would require employers with at least 25 employees in the Commonwealth to disclose salary …

Posted February 15, 2024 with Tags The Equal Pay Advisor

The Muddy Waters Get a Bit Clearer: Colorado Clarifies New Job Opportunity Notice Requirements

As we previously reported here, effective January 1, 2024, Colorado’s Equal Pay for Equal Work Act (the “Act”) was amended to impose new, administratively burdensome job opportunity, post-selection, and career progression notice requirements on employers. Colorado’s Department of Labor and …

Posted February 15, 2024 with Tags The Equal Pay Advisor

Are Pay Transparency Laws Working?

Nationally, the gender pay gap is the narrowest on record with the latest U.S. Census figures showing that, on average, women working full time earned 84% of what their male counterparts earned.[1] However, long-term progress towards narrowing the gender pay …

Posted February 15, 2024 with Tags The Equal Pay Advisor

Hawaii Expands Pay Discrimination Protections and Requires Pay Transparency

Hawaii recently joined the growing list of states expanding pay discrimination protections and requiring pay transparency from employers. Hawaii passed legislation that (1) expands the protections against pay discrimination beyond gender to include additional protected classes and (2) requires employers …

Posted July 18, 2023 with Tags The Equal Pay Advisor

Pay Equity, Diversity Efforts, and Litigation Risks

Many corporate employers throughout the United States have recognized the importance of diversity, equity and inclusion (“DEI”) as a matter of social justice, employee engagement and brand protection. These companies have adopted robust DEI plans, including pay equity efforts, and …

Posted July 18, 2023 with Tags The Equal Pay Advisor

Colorado Equal Pay Amendments Increase Burden of Pay Transparency Obligations

As we previously reported here, in 2019 Colorado passed a pay transparency law requiring employers to (1) disclose in their job postings the pay ranges and benefits for their Colorado jobs, and (2) make information about promotional opportunities known to …

Posted July 18, 2023 with Tags The Equal Pay Advisor

Rhode Island Enacts Pay Equity Safe Harbor

We previously reported that several states have enacted safe harbors for employers who proactively audit their pay practices and remediate any observed equal pay violations. Now Rhode Island has joined the fray. The state’s new pay equity law, which became …

Posted April 13, 2023 with Tags The Equal Pay Advisor

New York Clarifies Scope of Pay Scale Reports

For multi-state employers tracking pay transparency laws requiring salary ranges in job postings, recent amendments to the New York law provide welcome clarity. In its original form, the New York law would have required most employers to provide a range …

Posted April 13, 2023 with Tags The Equal Pay Advisor

California Clarifies (Some, but Not All) Uncertainties Around New Payscale Transparency and Data Reporting Requirements

As we posted about previously, in September 2022, California passed significant expansions of its pay transparency and pay data reporting laws, but many key questions about the law’s scope and application remained unclear. Payscale Posting Clarifications On the pay scale …

Posted April 13, 2023 with Tags The Equal Pay Advisor

The State of Pay Transparency Laws

Pay transparency laws are popping up across the country, forcing employers to comply with a patchwork of new, untested regulations. One aspect of these new laws that has caused employers to stumble is the requirement that job postings contain clear …

Posted April 13, 2023 with Tags The Equal Pay Advisor

Equal Pay Requirements and Antitrust

Employers concerned with state and federal equal pay requirements are now facing a new potential concern: antitrust issues. The Biden administration’s Department of Justice has announced an intent to prosecute employers who share compensation data that implicates antitrust concerns. Employers …

Posted December 18, 2022 with Tags The Equal Pay Advisor

Equal Pay in 2023: A Preview

In recent years, equal pay legislation has taken a new form. Gone are the days in which recruiters must merely avoid questions about prior salary history. Now, various states require recruiters to respond to requests about the expected salary for …

Posted December 18, 2022 with Tags The Equal Pay Advisor

It’s the Best Time of the Year…For a Pay Equity Audit

As 2022 draws to a close, employers are preparing for holiday parties, analyzing their staffing, and assessing compensation for the coming year in light of significant inflationary pressures and historically low unemployment rates. One item employers should consider is pay …

Posted December 18, 2022 with Tags The Equal Pay Advisor

Requirements of California’s New Pay Transparency Law Ironically Opaque

Starting January 1, 2023, California employers will need to comply with expanded pay transparency obligations. And, starting May 10, 2023 (and annually thereafter), they will need to make changes to their annual California pay data reports. While those deadlines are …

Posted September 20, 2022 with Tags The Equal Pay Advisor

Recruiting Under the Equal Pay Act: Top 5 Mistakes Made During the Hiring Process

Most recruiters and hiring managers are familiar with the concept of “prohibited questions” during the hiring process—topics the employer should avoid affirmatively raising during the interview to steer clear of potential discrimination. But as state and local governments pass legislation …

Posted September 20, 2022 with Tags The Equal Pay Advisor

New York’s City of Ithaca and Westchester County Join the Wave of Pay Transparency Laws

New York City’s pay transparency law is making waves through New York as two local governments passed similar legislation. The first to follow suit was the city of Ithaca, which enacted an almost identical pay transparency ordinance to the one …

Posted September 20, 2022 with Tags Corporate Immigration, Immigration Law, The Equal Pay Advisor

Pay Transparency and PERMs: An Immigration/Pay Transparency Conundrum

States, municipalities, and other local regulatory entities continue to impose additional pay transparency requirements upon employers hiring in various jurisdictions throughout the United States. In some locations, employers are required to provide a position’s pay ranges to job applicants upon …

Posted March 2, 2022 with Tags The Equal Pay Advisor

Top 5 Reasons to Do a Pay Equity Audit in 2022

There’s no time like the present to conduct a pay equity audit. This year, employers face historic competition to recruit and retain talent. With continued pressure to increase DE&I efforts and a wave of new pay equity laws, a pay …

Posted March 2, 2022 with Tags The Equal Pay Advisor

Keeping Up With Pay Transparency Laws

New York City will soon be joining the growing list of jurisdictions that have passed pay transparency laws. Effective May 15, 2022, employers with at least four employees in New York City will be required to disclose the minimum and …

Posted March 2, 2022 with Tags The Equal Pay Advisor

Covered Employers in Illinois and California Must Soon Report Their Pay Equity Data to the State

Basic Reporting Requirements in Each State Illinois Who is a covered employer? For purposes of the new requirement to report pay data to the Illinois Secretary of State, covered employers are Illinois corporations or foreign corporations authorized to transact …

Posted November 16, 2021 with Tags The Equal Pay Advisor

Remote Employees and Colorado Pay Disclosure Requirements

Over the last few years, employers across the United States have become accustomed to dealing with a patchwork of state pay equity requirements, including some that give employees the right to request and openly discuss and disclose their wages. A handful of states and municipalities have gone farther, enacting pay transparency schemes under which employers must affirmatively disclose the pay ranges for a position. States that impose some kind of pay transparency requirement include California, Colorado, Connecticut, Maryland, Nevada, Rhode Island, Washington. These states, and others, have recently adopted new or revised pay equity statutes imposing additional requirements upon employers.

Posted November 16, 2021 with Tags The Equal Pay Advisor

Roving Employees and How to Pay Them

Employers in the not-to-distant past constructed pay scales based in part on the location of the employees. Employers routinely paid employees in New York City, San Francisco, and Los Angeles a premium. By 2021, however, the concept of a worksite has been exploded, and employees work virtually from across the country. This change has dramatic implications for employers analyzing whether to structure pay scales tailored to geographic locales.

Posted November 16, 2021 with Tags The Equal Pay Advisor

Pay Equity Analyses in the Land of Zoom

The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted many areas of the employment landscape. Job descriptions, essential functions, ADA accommodations, undue hardship, and Title VII religious accommodations are all areas that have been substantially impacted by the virtual work environment and the availability of mechanisms such as Zoom to substitute for physical attendance. Pay equity analyses are just the latest area to be impacted by the virtual environment. Employers may need to rethink how they conduct their pay equity analyses going forward.

Posted September 9, 2021 with Tags The Equal Pay Advisor

Connecticut Expands Pay Equity and Transparency Requirements

Effective October 1, 2021, Connecticut employers will face a host of new pay transparency obligations. In addition, they will need to analyze—and defend—pay difference under a new, more expansive framework. With respect to transparency, the new law will require employers …

Posted September 9, 2021 with Tags The Equal Pay Advisor

Under the California Equal Pay Act, Incentive Programs Create Disparities

The California Equal Pay Act (CEPA) recognizes a few exceptions to the general bar on pay differentials between genders: a seniority system, a merit system, a system that measures earnings by quantity or quality of production, or “a bona fide …

Posted September 9, 2021 with Tags The Equal Pay Advisor

Does Your State Prohibit Asking Salary History?

Nevada and Rhode Island will soon join the growing list of state and local governments prohibiting employers from requesting salary history from applicants, the most common form of pay equity legislation. As employers transition to remote workforces and attract applicants …

Posted September 9, 2021 with Tags The Equal Pay Advisor

Public Companies Facing Increasing Pressure to Disclose Pay and Diversity Data

Publicly held corporations are facing increasing pressure from a variety of sources to disclose their diversity and pay equity data. Legislative and regulatory changes, activist shareholder groups, and public campaigns are beginning to have an impact. Although most corporations do …

Posted May 24, 2021 with Tags The Equal Pay Advisor

Pay Equity and the Pandemic: A Primer for Higher Ed

After a year unlike any other, colleges and universities are grappling with historical challenges. While adjusting to reduced attendance, converting to online programming, and ensuring a healthy and safe environment, many higher education institutions operated with significant budget shortfalls. The resulting furloughs, layoffs, and work reductions may add a wrinkle—pay equity complaints.

Posted May 24, 2021 with Tags The Equal Pay Advisor

Illinois Adopts New Equal Pay Requirements

Many states across the country have adopted new or revised equal pay laws in an effort to address pay inequities in the workplace. Illinois joined that list with March 22, 2021 amendments to the Illinois Equal Pay Act of 2003 and Illinois Business Corporation Act, which took immediate effect. The amendments require employers to assemble, submit, and, in some cases, even publish demographic and pay equity data.

Posted May 24, 2021 with Tags The Equal Pay Advisor

Biden Administration Pushes New Federal Equal Pay Requirements

During the Trump Administration, equal pay advocates focused their attention on legislative and regulatory changes at the state and local levels. These advocates believed change was impossible at the federal level. Still, they successfully convinced states to revise their equal pay statutes and enhance state-level protections against pay inequities. However, with the changing of the White House, pay equity advocates have refocused their attention back on the federal government.

Posted April 5, 2021 with Tags Labor and Employment, Pay equity, The Equal Pay Advisor

Pay Equity Advocates Leverage Shareholder Derivative Lawsuits To Drive Pay Equity Efforts

Pay equity advocates have used a variety of mechanisms to pressure employers to prioritize pay equity in the workplace. These efforts include shareholder resolutions regarding pay equity, threats of divestiture, and public campaigns against particular employers. Recently, pay equity advocates have unveiled a new tactic to enhance pressure on public corporations to prioritize pay equity: failure to comply with their own pay equity promises. These lawsuits signal a new front in the activist war against perceived pay inequities.

Posted March 3, 2021 with Tags The Equal Pay Advisor

Resurrecting EEO-1 Component 2: California Mandates Pay Data Reporting by March 31

As part of its continuing efforts to combat pay discrimination, California enacted a new pay data reporting law at the end of 2020. The law requires certain employers to submit annual reports to the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH), detailing their California employees’ yearly compensation and hours worked based on job category, race, ethnicity, and gender classifications. Pay data reports for the 2020 reporting year are due on March 31, 2021. Employers who will be subject to these reporting requirements should ensure they understand and collect the information needed to complete the report on time.

Posted March 3, 2021 with Tags The Equal Pay Advisor

Unions Join Pay Equity Fight: New Fronts in the Pay Equity Challenge

Over the last few years, employers have seen pay equity issues impact investor relations, recruiting, and branding. Recent developments have further accentuated these risks and created even more pay equity concerns for employers.

Posted March 3, 2021 with Tags The Equal Pay Advisor

EEOC and DFEH Using EEO-1 Pay Data to Find Intersectional or Gender-Plus Claims

Employers that provided EEO-1 Component Two pay data to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), or are currently preparing to provide data to the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) as part of California’s new pay data reporting requirement, are doubtless interested in learning how the agencies will use the data. One likely answer is that the EEOC and DFEH will use employer’s data to identify instances of “intersectional” pay discrimination. That is, claims of pay discrimination that involve the combination of two or more protected classes (such as race and gender), which are also commonly referred to as “gender-plus” claims (e.g., gender-plus-race).

Posted July 14, 2020 with Tags The Equal Pay Advisor

Pay Equity Advocacy Groups Target Employer Brand & Morale

Pay inequities can create government regulatory problems with the EEOC and OFCCP, for example, and can also present litigation risks in the form of government lawsuits or private class actions. But pay equity issues also can result in brand and morale challenges that may ultimately be more significant than those in the regulatory and litigation contexts. Because of new, creative tactics from advocacy groups, as well as changes in the societal and media environments, employers should place greater focus on the brand and morale aspects of pay equity.

Posted July 14, 2020 with Tags The Equal Pay Advisor

COVID-19 Creates Additional Risk of Gender-Based Imbalance

There are some legal risks associated with COVID-related changes in the workplace that deserve more attention than they have received to date. One of these is the potential for gender-based imbalances in compensation, promotions, and other conditions of employment.

Posted March 2, 2020 with Tags The Equal Pay Advisor

Charting a Safe Course into Equal Pay “Safe Harbors”

The rising tide of state pay equity legislation shows no sign of abating, with several new laws set to become effective in 2020 and 2021. Many of these laws differ from the federal Equal Pay Act by defining comparable work more broadly, limiting the factors on which employers can rely to justify pay disparities, and imposing additional penalties. A handful of the laws also attempt to balance these new burdens on employers by creating “safe harbors” for those who proactively assess and address their pay gaps.

Posted March 1, 2020 with Tags The Equal Pay Advisor

A Brief History of the Start-Stop-Start-Stop of the Revised EEO-1 Report

Check out this 2-minute video on what's going on with EEO-1 reporting.

Posted October 24, 2019 with Tags The Equal Pay Advisor

Overview for Employers: More State Pay Equity Laws Coming Online

New pay equity requirements have already taken effect in 2019 in Alabama, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Oregon, and the State of Washington. And this trend isn’t slowing down, as even more requirements are slated to take effect in fall 2019 and beyond, including in Colorado, Oregon, New York, and New Jersey. Employers should take care to review their recruiting, interviewing, and other hiring practices—many of these new laws join the growing, nationwide trend banning pre-employment inquiries about salary history.

Posted October 23, 2019 with Tags The Equal Pay Advisor

Simplistic Pay Equity Analyses Doing More Harm Than Good

In recent years, some investors have grown increasingly vocal about pay equity issues, with a few investor funds calling on companies to publish compensation data by gender. While the intentions are commendable, its approach is problematic because the median pay gap is easily misinterpreted as a measure of “all things being equal.”

Posted May 15, 2019 with Tags The Equal Pay Advisor

EEOC Pay Data Disclosure Deadlines Coming Soon

Larger employers concerned about the deadline for submitting pay data to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) recently learned that they must submit pay data by September 30, 2019.

Posted May 15, 2019 with Tags The Equal Pay Advisor

Colorado Joins Ranks of States Adopting Equal Pay Statutes

No area of labor and employment law has seen more state attention in the last two years than pay equity. California, New York, Massachusetts, and Maryland have passed legislation facilitating equal pay litigation and imposing additional regulatory requirements upon employers. 2019 promises to continue that trend.

Posted May 15, 2019 with Tags The Equal Pay Advisor

Wave of Equal Pay Lawsuits Continues to Build

Equal pay issues are receiving a great deal of attention in the media, at regulatory agencies, and in various state legislatures. Given all this attention, it is unsurprising plaintiffs’ law firms have been quick to jump on the equal pay bandwagon. Experienced plaintiffs’ class action firms have launched a variety of equal pay class or collective actions against employers. And those law firms have deployed a sophisticated array of tools to prosecute those claims.