Keith I. Chrestionson was featured in the San Francisco Business Times article, "The Top 5 Things Businesses Need to Know About the Equal Pay Law." Full text can be found in the December 28, 2015, issue, but a synopsis is below.
After January 1, 2016, women working in California will have the strongest equal pay protection in the country. If they can provide proof that a male is making more money, while in the same position and job, women are entitled to sue under pay discrimination laws within the state.
The new law will eliminate the "same establishment" requirement which did not necessarily allow women to compare their salaries to men who were working in the same business.
It also prevents companies from retaliating against individuals for inquiring about other employees' wages or employees who discuss or disclose their own wages.
Fox Rothschild's Keith Chrestionson was asked by San Francisco Business Times what the top five things employers needed to know about the new law:
1. What's the No.1 thing a small business owner needs to consider as this becomes law?
Not only should small business owners make sure that their policies prevent pay discrimination, they need to enforce those policies both for new hires and their existing workforce. Employers should not forget to go back and evaluate their current employees to be sure that any pay discrepancies, if they exist, are not based upon sex. Determining what substantially similar work is under the law may prove challenging.
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