California Pay Data Reporting remains a significant annual compliance obligation for covered employers in 2026. Private employers with 100 or more employees, including those with at least one employee in California, must submit a pay data report to the California Civil Rights Department by May 13, 2026, reflecting workforce data from the 2025 calendar year. Employers are required to report employee counts, pay bands, hours worked, and demographic data by establishment, as well as submit a separate Labor Contractor Employee Report when applicable.
For the 2026 submission, employers must include new data fields for the first time, such as exemption status, employment type, and weeks worked during the reporting year. Employers should anticipate continued scrutiny regarding data accuracy, consistent job categorization, and the proper assignment of remote and hybrid employees to California establishments.
Preparation should focus on early coordination with payroll and HRIS vendors, conducting internal audits of job titles and compensation practices, and maintaining clear documentation of data methodologies. Proactive planning supports timely filing and reduces compliance risk as enforcement and transparency expectations continue to increase.
Key Takeaways for Employers
- Know the 2026 Filing Deadline: Covered employers must submit California Pay Data Reports to the Civil Rights Department by May 13, 2026, using workforce data from the 2025 calendar year. Late or incomplete filings may trigger mandatory penalties.
- Confirm employer coverage and reporting scope: Private employers with 100 or more employees nationwide, including at least one California employee, are required to file, along with employers that meet the labor contractor threshold. Separate reports are required for labor contractor employees.
- Account for expanded data elements: The 2026 submission continues enhanced reporting requirements, including pay bands, hours worked, demographic data, establishment-based reporting, employment type, exemption status, and weeks worked during the reporting year.
- Evaluate labor contractor relationships: Employers must coordinate closely with labor contractors to obtain accurate and complete worker data, as the responsibility for filing the Labor Contractor Employee Report rests with the client employer.
- Strengthen data governance and recordkeeping: California now requires demographic pay data to be maintained separately from personnel files, increasing the importance of secure data storage and controlled access.
- Prepare Early: HR, payroll, and legal teams should validate job classifications, compensation structures, and establishment assignments early to reduce risk and support timely, accurate reporting.
California Government Resources
- 2025 Preliminary Templates and FAQ | California Civil Rights Department
- California Pay Data Reporting Portal | California Civil Rights Department
- Pay Data Reporting Home Page | California Civil Rights Department
Law Firm Articles
Beginning in 2026, SB 464 requires courts to impose civil penalties against employers that fail to file a pay data report when requested by the CRD.
There is no change to the penalty amounts: up to $100 per employee for the first failure to file, and up to $200 per employee for each subsequent failure. The penalties may be apportioned to any labor contractors that fail to provide necessary pay data to an employer.
California Amends Its Pay Transparency and Pay Data Laws |Seyfarth
Employers must ensure that any demographic information gathered by employers or labor contractors for California pay reporting “shall be collected and stored separately from employees’ personnel records.” While some employers might have previously separated California pay reporting data from employee personnel records, this was not previously required. The scope of this requirement will likely be explained in more detail through guidance in the form of answers to frequently asked questions (FAQs) and other future guidance issued by California’s Civil Rights Department (CRD), which administers pay data reporting in the state. However, as currently stated, this requirement is broad and covers all data connected to the annual pay reporting requirement. Based on its effective date of January 1, 2026, employers and covered labor contractors may want to consider implementing plans to keep this data separate from regular personnel files.
California Senate Bill 464 Sharpens State’s Pay Reporting Teeth | Ogletree
The law currently requires private sector employers to report pay data for employees based on their race, ethnicity, sex, and hours worked, across 10 job categories. Beginning in 2027, employers will be required to include in the reports more granular information, increasing analyzed job categories from 10 to 23 to align with the Bureau of Labor Statistics Standard Occupational Classification groups. According to the law’s drafters, this change aims to improve pay equity analyses by increasing the number of factors being considered.
California 2026 Employment Law Update: Pay Transparency, Worker Rights, and the Future of AI Regulation | Farella Braun
CRD will require data that classifies each California worker as either “Exempt” or “Non-exempt” under the minimum wage and overtime provisions of California’s Industrial Welfare Commission wage orders and/or the federal Fair Labor Standards Act. This classification will be reported for every employee group in the pay data report. This change means that while exempt and non-exempt workers were historically grouped together, they will now be separated into different employee groupings based on their exemption status as well as their race/ethnicity, sex, job category, and pay band.
Employment Type
Employers must also report each California employee’s employment type using one of three categories: “Full-time,” “Part-time,” or “Intermittent.” The following explanations are provided in the FAQ for each category.
- Full-time employees are those that “regularly work full-time hours under the employer’s standard or alternative workweek schedule.”
- Part-time employees “regularly work less than full-time hours under the employers standard or alternative workweek schedule.”
- Intermittent employees are assigned to “periodically or irregularly work full-time or part-time hours, under the employer’s standard or alternative workweek schedule.”
Thus, it may be necessary to review how these classifications apply to hybrid or variable-hour roles given that CRD is applying a distinction for “intermittent” workers that may not be currently captured in company HR systems.
Important Update: Preliminary Guidance for California’s 2025 Pay Data Reporting Presents Broader, More Complex Compliance Requirements | Seyfarth
SHRM Ask an HR Advisor
Get expert help on a wide range of HR topics. As a free benefit exclusively for members, you can access experienced, certified HR Advisors by phone, chat, & email
Connect with an HR Advisor now: https://www.shrm.org/hrhelp
SHRM Members' Survey
Tell us what you think about the Express Request self-service feature in a few quick questions.
Was this resource helpful?
Validate your HR expertise
Earning your SHRM-CP credential makes you a recognized expert and leader in the HR field.
Related Content
Learn how Marsh McLennan successfully boosts staff well-being with digital tools, improving productivity and work satisfaction for more than 20,000 employees.
The proliferation of artificial intelligence in the workplace, and the ensuing expected increase in productivity and efficiency, could help usher in the four-day workweek, some experts predict.
As artificial intelligence technology continues to develop, the demand for workers with the ability to work alongside and manage AI systems will increase. This means that workers who are not able to adapt and learn these new skills will be left behind in the job market.