THIRD READING  

Bill No: AB 271

Author: Cooper (D) and Burke (D), et al.

Amended: 3/6/19 in Assembly

Vote: 21

SENATE LABOR, PUB. EMP. & RET. COMMITTEE: 5-0, 6/19/19

AYES: Hill, Morrell, Jackson, Mitchell, Pan

SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: 7-0, 8/30/19

AYES: Portantino, Bates, Bradford, Durazo, Hill, Jones, Wieckowski

ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 68-0, 5/28/19 - See last page for vote

SUBJECT: Civil service: Personnel Classification Plan: salary equalization

SOURCE: Author

DIGEST:

This bill requires state agencies to submit information pertaining to their progress toward gender and ethnic pay equity and gender and minority workforce representation to the California Department of Human Resources (CalHR) so that CalHR can prepare a report thereon and develop plans for agencies to achieve pay equity and workforce representation. This bill also requires each state agency head to present CalHR’s findings regarding the agency’s efforts toward pay equity and workforce representation to the Legislature’s budget subcommittees when the budget subcommittees are hearing the agency’s budget.

ANALYSIS:

Existing law:

1. Requires the CalHR to administer the state’s Personnel Classification Plan which includes the allocation of every position to the appropriate class in the classification plan (Government Code §19818 et seq.).
2. Requires CalHR to assess the adequacy of the Personnel Classification Plan and, as needed, recommend changes to the State Personnel Board. The recommendations must include a need to establish additional classes, or to abolish or alter existing classes (GC §19818.10).
3. Requires CalHR to review and analyze existing information, including studies from other jurisdictions relevant to setting salaries for “female-dominated jobs,” and to provide this information to the appropriate legislative policy committees and the state’s collective bargaining units (GC §19827.2).
4. Establishes the California Equal Pay Act (CEPA), which prohibits an employer from paying its employees less than it pays employees of the opposite sex for equal work.
5. Establishes the California Fair Pay Act, which amended the CEPA by requiring equal pay for employees who perform substantially similar work when viewed as a composite of skill, effort and responsibility, among other provisions.

This bill:

1. Requires CalHR to evaluate, by December 31, 2020, and every two years thereafter, all state civil service classifications in the Personnel Classification Plan and prepare a detailed report on gender and ethnicity pay equity in each classification where there is underrepresentation of women and minorities.
2. Requires state agencies to provide to CalHR statistical information for each state civil service classification within that state agency.
3. Requires CalHR to do the following:
   1. Develop a report to include:
      1. A plan for each state agency to attain pay equity if it finds “a discrepancy”.
      2. A lawful plan consistent with existing law to recruit, attract, and retain women and minorities into positions “where there is underrepresentation of those subgroups.”
   2. Develop the plan(s) in a collaborative manner with each state agency.
4. Requires each state agency to submit information to CalHR regarding the agency’s progress towards its plan for wage parity and for increasing underrepresented groups, including women and minorities. The information should include a detailed and proposed timeline for meeting the goal of wage parity and creating a diverse workforce.
5. Requires CalHR to submit the report to the Legislature no later than January 1 following the completion of the report until 2030.
6. Requires each state agency head to present CalHR’s findings regarding the agency’s efforts toward pay equity and workforce representation to the Legislature’s budget subcommittees when the budget subcommittees are hearing the agency’s budget.

Related/Prior Legislation

SB 358 (Jackson, Chapter 546, Statutes of 2018), prohibited public and private employers from paying any employee at wage rates less than the rates paid to employees of the opposite sex, race or ethnicity in the same establishment for equal work on jobs the performance of which requires equal skill, effort and responsibility, and which are performed under similar working conditions.

Assembly Bill 1916 (Cooper, 2018), which was substantially similar to the current bill, was vetoed by the Governor. The Governor’s veto message stated that:

The information called for by this bill is currently provided by [CalHR] and the State Controller’s office. …it is reasonably complete and provides a basis for sound legislative review.

SB 1063 (Hall, Chapter 866, Statutes of 2016) prohibited employers from paying employees a wage rate less than the rate paid to employees of a different race or ethnicity for substantially similar work.

AB 1676 (Campos, Chapter 856, Statutes of 2016) provided that prior salary cannot, by itself, justify any disparity in compensation.

AB 46 (Cooper, Chapter 776, Statutes of 2016) expanded the California Equal Pay Equity Act to public sector employers.

FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes Local: No

According to the Senate Appropriations Committee,

CalHR indicates that it would incur currently undetermined, but significant programming costs to comply with the bill’s reporting requirements. In addition, the bill would result in unknown costs across state agencies to interface with CalHR and update it on the implementation of plans to address pay disparities and hiring in identified job classifications.

SUPPORT: (Verified 8/29/19)

American Association of University Women of California

American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, AFL-CIO

Association of California State Supervisors

California Association of Professional Scientists

California Labor Federation, AFL-CIO

California Public Defenders Association

National Association of Social Workers, California Chapter

Professional Engineers in California Government

OPPOSITION: (Verified 8/29/19)

None received

ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT: According to the author, this bill’s goal is to achieve pay equity for all women and minorities in all job classifications in the public sector.

According the California Labor Federation,

AB 271 (Cooper) will begin to address this problem within state civil service by collecting relevant data for state employees. The bill will require the Department of Human Resources to evaluate classifications every two years and then report findings related to gender and wage disparities. State agency heads will then be required to detail planned efforts to address wage gaps discovered. With this information and these required steps, we can analyze the numbers to produce effective plans to level the economic playing field for all state workers, regardless of gender or ethnicity.

According to the American Association of University Women of California,

Pay discrimination affects all Californians—numerous studies have shown that women working full time make a median 89 cents to every dollar earned by men, and for women of color, the gap is far worse. In 2016, Asian-American women earned 73.5 cents, African American women 61 cents, Native American women 50 cents, and Latinas just 42 cents for every dollar earned by white, non-Hispanic men. Nationwide, women overall earn 80 cents to every dollar a man earns.

ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 68-0, 5/28/19

AYES: Aguiar-Curry, Arambula, Bauer-Kahan, Berman, Bigelow, Bloom, Boerner Horvath, Bonta, Burke, Calderon, Carrillo, Cervantes, Chau, Chen, Chiu, Choi, Chu, Cooper, Cunningham, Dahle, Daly, Diep, Eggman, Fong, Frazier, Friedman, Gabriel, Cristina Garcia, Gipson, Gloria, Gonzalez, Grayson, Holden, Irwin, Jones-Sawyer, Kalra, Kamlager-Dove, Lackey, Levine, Limón, Low, Maienschein, Mayes, McCarty, Medina, Mullin, Muratsuchi, Nazarian, O'Donnell, Petrie-Norris, Quirk, Quirk-Silva, Ramos, Reyes, Luz Rivas, Robert Rivas, Rodriguez, Blanca Rubio, Salas, Santiago, Smith, Mark Stone, Voepel, Waldron, Weber, Wicks, Wood, Rendon

NO VOTE RECORDED: Brough, Cooley, Flora, Gallagher, Eduardo Garcia, Gray, Kiley, Mathis, Melendez, Obernolte, Patterson, Ting

Prepared by: Glenn Miles / L., P.E. & R. / (916) 651-1556

9/1/19 14:04:38

**** END ****

SENATE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS

Senator Anthony Portantino, Chair

2019 - 2020 Regular Session

AB 271 (Cooper) - Civil service: Personnel Classification Plan: salary equalization

Bill Summary:

AB 271 would require state agencies to submit information pertaining to their progress toward gender and ethnic pay equity and gender and minority workforce representation to the California Department of Human Resources (CalHR) so that CalHR can prepare a report thereon and develop plans for agencies to achieve pay equity and workforce representation. Additionally, it would require each state agency to present CalHR’s findings regarding its efforts toward pay equity and workforce representation to the Legislature’s budget subcommittees during the annual budget hearing process.

Fiscal Impact:

CalHR indicates that it would incur currently undetermined, but significant programming costs to comply with the bill’s reporting requirements. In addition, the bill would result in unknown costs across state agencies to interface with CalHR and update it on the implementation of plans to address pay disparities and hiring in identified job classifications.

Background:

CalHR was created in 2012 as part of an administration reorganization plan. Among its other responsibilities, CalHR does the following:

• Represent the Governor as the employer, in employer-employee relations pursuant to the Dills Act, including collective bargaining with the state’s twenty-one collective bargaining units.
• Administer the state’s classification plan, salaries, and manager and supervisor program, among other programs related to personnel.
• Provide leadership and guidance to departments to protect the civil rights of all state employees.
• Create and administers the state’s civil service exam to provide a fair and open process to hire qualified candidates to serve the State.

CalHR annually releases a report on women’s earnings in state civil service classifications. The latest report, released in February 2018, utilizes state employee data from 1989 until 2015. Key findings from the report include, among other things, the following: (1) with women in state civil service branching out to higher paying job categories during the 26-year period, the gender pay gap has improved, and within certain job classifications, has been eliminated, (2) the state civil service pay gap this year fell below the general national gap, 20 percent in 2015, but remains above the 14.2 percent gap for the state overall, and (3) to further narrow the gender pay gap, there must be an increased number of women in higher-paying job classifications.

Proposed Law:

This bill would, among other things, do the following:

• Require CalHR, by December 31, 2020, and biennially thereafter, to evaluate all civil service classifications in the Personnel Classification Plan and prepare a detailed report on gender and ethnicity pay equity in each classification where there is an underrepresentation of women and minorities.
• Require each state agency to submit statistical information to CalHR, as specified, for each state civil service classification within that agency.
• Specify that the CalHR report shall include: (1) a plan for each state agency to attain pay equity if a discrepancy is found, and (2) a plan, as specified, to recruit, attract, and retain women and minorities into positions where there is an underrepresentation of those subgroups. CalHR shall develop the plan in a collaborative manner with each state agency.
• Require each state agency to submit information to CalHR, as specified, regarding the agency’s progress towards its plan, as specified, for wage parity and increasing those underrepresented groups, including women and minorities. This includes a detailed timeline proposal for meeting the goal of wage parity and creating a diverse workforce, as specified.
• Require CalHR to submit its report to the Legislature no later than January 1st, as specified, until January 1, 2030.
• Require each state agency head to present CalHR’s findings regarding the agency’s efforts toward pay equity and workforce representation to the Legislature’s budget subcommittees when the budget subcommittees are hearing the agency’s budget.

Related Legislation:

• AB 1916 (Cooper, 2018) was substantially similar to this bill; it was vetoed by the Governor.
• AB 46 (Cooper, Chapter 776, Statutes of 2017), expanded the California Equal Pay Act to public employees.
• AB 1209 (Gonzalez Fletcher, 2017) would have required employers to collect specified information on gender pay differentials and for the employer to publish this information online. The bill was vetoed by the Governor.

Staff Comments:

This bill would require an in-depth data analysis concerning pay disparities in those job classifications with an underrepresentation of women and minorities. The State currently establishes classification salaries based on merit and seniority; no classification imposes wage differentials based on employee gender or ethnicity. Wage increases are collectively bargained with unions, and apply across an entire bargaining unit or a classification, and are not applied individually. Currently, there are about 2,800 classifications in state service across roughly 200 state agencies.

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SENATE COMMITTEE ON LABOR, PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT AND RETIREMENT

Senator Jerry Hill, Chair

2019 - 2020 Regular

Bill No: AB 271 Hearing Date: June 19, 2019

SUBJECT: Civil service: Personnel Classification Plan: salary equalization

KEY ISSUE

Should the Legislature require state agencies to submit information pertaining to their progress toward gender and ethnic pay equity and gender and minority workforce representation to the California Department of Human Resources (CalHR) so that CalHR can prepare a report thereon and develop plans for agencies to achieve pay equity and workforce representation?

Should each state agency head be required to present CalHR’s findings regarding the agency’s efforts toward pay equity and workforce representation to the Legislature’s budget subcommittees when the budget subcommittees are hearing the agency’s budget?

ANALYSIS

Existing law:

1) Requires the CalHR to administer the state’s Personnel Classification Plan which includes the allocation of every position to the appropriate class in the classification plan (Government Code §19818 et seq.).

2) Requires CalHR to assess the adequacy of the Personnel Classification Plan and, as needed, recommend changes to the State Personnel Board. The recommendations must include a need to establish additional classes, or to abolish or alter existing classes (GC §19818.10).

3) Requires CalHR to review and analyze existing information, including studies from other jurisdictions relevant to setting salaries for “female-dominated jobs,” and to provide this information to the appropriate legislative policy committees and the state’s collective bargaining units (GC §19827.2).

5) Establishes the California Equal Pay Act (CEPA), which prohibits an employer from paying its employees less than it pays employees of the opposite sex for equal work.

6) Establishes the California Fair Pay Act, which amended the CEPA by requiring equal pay for employees who perform substantially similar work when viewed as a composite of skill, effort and responsibility, among other provisions.

This bill:

1. Requires CalHR to evaluate, by December 31, 2020, and every two years thereafter, all state civil service classifications in the Personnel Classification Plan and prepare a detailed report on gender and ethnicity pay equity in each classification where there is underrepresentation of women and minorities.
2. Requires state agencies to provide to CalHR statistical information for each state civil service classification within that state agency.
3. Requires CalHR to do the following:
4. Develop a report to include:
5. A plan for each state agency to attain pay equity if it finds “a discrepancy”.
6. A lawful plan consistent with existing law to recruit, attract, and retain women and minorities into positions “where there is underrepresentation of those subgroups.”
7. Develop the plan(s) in a collaborative manner with each state agency.
8. Requires each state agency to submit information to CalHR regarding the agency’s progress towards its plan for wage parity and for increasing underrepresented groups, including women and minorities. The information should include a detailed and proposed timeline for meeting the goal of wage parity and creating a diverse workforce.
9. Requires CalHR to submit the report to the Legislature no later than January 1 following the completion of the report until 2030.
10. Requires each state agency head to present CalHR’s findings regarding the agency’s efforts toward pay equity and workforce representation to the Legislature’s budget subcommittees when the budget subcommittees are hearing the agency’s budget.

COMMENTS

1. Need for this bill?

Background

Several recent legislative initiatives have targeted the persistent gender pay gap in the state civil service and among underrepresented ethnic groups. Additionally, those initiatives have sought to require the state to measure and address underrepresentation of women and ethnic minorities in civil service positions.

CalHR, under the current and recent past Administrations, initiated civil service reform efforts whose goals include the pay gap and workforce representation issues presented in this bill. However, addressing the pay and workforce representation gaps implicates getting state administrators to challenge, beyond historical discriminatory policies and attitudes, other past practices structured to comply with the constitutional requirement that the state administer the civil service on the merit principle, as well as the challenge of operating within the parameters of complex public sector collective bargaining regimes. The civil service’s complex constitutional, statutory, and contractual relationships add additional institutional obstacles to already persistent roadblocks to pay equity and workforce representation.

This bill seeks to continue efforts to breakdown those roadblocks by requiring state agency heads to collaborate with CalHR in developing a plan for each agency to move toward and achieve pay equity and workforce representation for women and ethnic minorities. Additionally, this bill holds agency heads accountable by requiring them to present their efforts toward achieving pay equity and workforce representation at their annual budget hearings before the Legislature’s budget subcommittees.

2. Proponent Arguments

According to the author, this bill’s goal is to achieve pay equity for all women and minorities in all job classifications in the public sector.

According the California Labor Federation,

AB 271 (Cooper) will begin to address this problem within state civil service by collecting relevant data for state employees. The bill will require the Department of Human Resources to evaluate classifications every two years and then report findings related to gender and wage disparities. State agency heads will then be required to detail planned efforts to address wage gaps discovered. With this information and these required steps, we can analyze the numbers to produce effective plans to level the economic playing field for all state workers, regardless of gender or ethnicity.

According to the American Association of University Women of California,

Pay discrimination affects all Californians—numerous studies have shown that women working full time make a median 89 cents to every dollar earned by men, and for women of color, the gap is far worse. In 2016, Asian-American women earned 73.5 cents, African American women 61 cents, Native American women 50 cents, and Latinas just 42 cents for every dollar earned by white, non-Hispanic men. Nationwide, women overall earn 80 cents to every dollar a man earns.

3. Opponent Arguments:

None on file.

4. Prior Legislation:

Assembly Bill 1916 (Cooper, 2018), which was substantially similar to the current bill, was vetoed by the Governor. The Governor’s veto message stated that:

The information called for by this bill is currently provided by [CalHR] and the State Controller’s office. …it is reasonably complete and provides a basis for sound legislative review.

Chapter 866, Statutes of 2016 (SB 1063, Hall), prohibits employers from paying employees a wage rate less than the rate paid to employees of a different race or ethnicity for substantially similar work.

Chapter 856, Statutes of 2016 (AB 1676, Campos and Gonzalez), provides that prior salary cannot, by itself, justify any disparity in compensation.

Chapter 776, Statutes of 2016 (AB 46, Cooper), expands the California Equal Pay Equity Act to public sector employers.

Chapter 546, Statutes of 2015 (SB 358, Jackson), prohibits public and private employers from paying any employee at wage rates less than the rates paid to employees of the opposite sex, race or ethnicity in the same establishment for equal work on jobs the performance of which requires equal skill, effort and responsibility, and which are performed under similar working conditions.

SUPPORT

American Association of University Women of California

American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, AFL-CIO

Association of California State Supervisors

California Association of Professional Scientists

California Labor Federation, AFL-CIO

California Public Defenders Association

National Association of Social Workers, California Chapter

Professional Engineers in California Government

OPPOSITION

None on file.

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ASSEMBLY THIRD READING

ATR Bill Id:AB 271

Author:(Cooper and Burke)

As Amended Ver:March 6, 2019

Majority vote

SUMMARY:

Requires an evaluation and report by the California Department of Human Resources (CalHR) on gender and ethnicity pay equity for all civil service classifications where there is an underrepresentation of women and minorities, among other provisions.

Major Provisions

1) Requires CalHR, by December 31, 2020, and every two years thereafter, to evaluate all state civil service classifications in the Personnel Classification Plan and prepare a detailed report on gender and ethnicity pay equity in each classification where there is underrepresentation of women and minorities.

2) Requires state agencies to provide statistical information to CalHR for each state civil service classification within that state agency, including plans relating to attaining pay equity, among other items, and CalHR to collaboratively develop the plan with each state agency.

4) Requires each state agency to submit information to CalHR regarding the agency's progress towards its plan for wage parity and increasing underrepresented groups, including women and minorities. This includes a detailed and proposed timeline for meeting the goal of wage parity and creating a diverse workforce.

5) Requires, until January 1, 2030, CalHR to submit the report to the Legislature no later than January 1 following the completion of the report, and requires the presenting of the facts and findings of the report be the head of each agency to the appropriate legislative budget subcommittees when the budget of that agency is before that subcommittee. The report must include the agency's efforts toward meeting the goals for wage parity and increasing the number of women and minorities in the state agency.

COMMENTS:

1. Please see the policy committee analysis for a full discussion of this bill.
2. Responsibilities of CalHR

As of July 1, 2012, all nonmerit functions of the State Personnel Board moved to CalHR. Among other responsibilities, and for those most relevant to the purposes of this measure, CalHR is responsible for:

• 1. Labor relations, and represents the Governor as the employer, in employer-employee relations pursuant to the Dills Act, including collective bargaining with the state's twenty-one collective bargaining units.
  2. Personnel management, which CalHR administers the state's classification plan, salaries, and manager and supervisor program, among other programs related to personnel.
  3. Civil rights, where CalHR provides leadership and guidance to departments to protect the civil rights of all state employees.
  4. Creating and administering the state's civil service exam to provide a fair and open process to hire qualified candidates to serve the state.

According to the Author:

"I believe we must evaluate all state civil service classifications and prepare a detailed report on gender and ethnicity pay equity and each classification where there is an underrepresentation of women and minorities to ensure we are really closing the wage gap. This bill is to achieve pay equity for all women and minorities in all job classifications in the public sector."

Arguments in Support:

Generally, supporters state that this measure would assist in establishing pay equity for all employees, particularly women and minorities, especially when considering the evident pay gap that exists for these groups when compared to their coworkers.

Arguments in Opposition:

None on file.

FISCAL COMMENTS:

According to the Assembly Appropriations Committee, this bill will result in minor and absorbable costs for CalHR to gather required data and develop the required report, and unknown costs across state agencies to update CalHR on the implementation of the plan to address pay disparities and hiring in identified job classifications.

VOTES:

ASM PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT AND RETIREMENT: 7-0-0

YES: Rodriguez, Voepel, Cervantes, Cooley, Cooper, Fong, O'Donnell

ASM APPROPRIATIONS: 16-0-2

YES: Gonzalez, Bigelow, Bloom, Bonta, Calderon, Carrillo, Chau, Diep, Eggman, Fong, Gabriel, Eduardo Garcia, Maienschein, Petrie-Norris, Quirk, Robert Rivas

ABS, ABST OR NV: Brough, Obernolte

UPDATED:

VERSION: March 6, 2019

CONSULTANT: Michael Bolden / P.E. & R. / (916) 319-3957 FN: 0000480

Date of Hearing: April 10, 2019

ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS

Lorena Gonzalez, Chair

ABPCA Bill Id:AB 271

Author:(Cooper) – As Amended Ver:March 6, 2019

Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: No Reimbursable: No

SUMMARY:

This bill requires, by December 31, 2020, and once every two years thereafter, the California Department of Human Resources (CalHR) to develop an annual report on gender and technical pay disparities within state agencies. Specifically, this bill:

1. Requires CalHR to evaluate all state civil service classifications and prepare a detailed report on gender and ethnicity pay equity within each classification where there is an underrepresentation of women and minorities.
2. Requires each state agency to submit to CalHR statistical information for each civil service classification and requires CalHR to prepare a plan for each state agency to attain pay equity. State agencies must report to CalHR on their progress toward meeting the prepared plan.
3. Requires, until January 1, 2030, CalHR to submit the report each year to the Legislature and requires the report’s facts and findings to be presented by each department or agency to the appropriate legislative budget subcommittees when before that committee.

FISCAL EFFECT:

1. Minor and absorbable costs for CalHR to gather required data and develop the required report. However, because AB 271’s primary purpose is to develop a report, this bill is eligible for the committee's Suspense File, per committee rules.
2. Unknown costs across state agencies to update CalHR on the implementation of the plan to address pay disparities and hiring in identified job classifications.

COMMENTS:

1. Purpose. According to the author, AB 271 will help achieve pay equity for all women and minorities in the public sector. This bill aims to address the issue through a detailed report on gender and ethnic pay equity within civil service job classifications.
2. 2018 CalHR report. CalHR released a report in February 2018 titled “2015 Report on Women’s Earnings in California State Civil Service Classifications.” This report includes data on state civil service representation, by gender, for state employees from years 1989 through 2015. The report notes that the gender pay gap narrowed from 25.8% in 1989 to 19.9% in 2015, and that within specific job classifications, there was no pay gap in 2015. CalHR concludes that to further narrow the gender pay gap, there must be an increased number of women in higher-paying job classifications.
3. Goals of the report. AB 271, as drafted, requires a deeper look at pay disparities in those job classifications with an underrepresentation of women and minorities. This requirement mixes two distinct concepts that are both relevant to the study of pay equity: different pay for the same work and an overrepresentation of men or white workers in higher-paying occupations. According to CalHR, the most important factor in the public sector pay gap is an overrepresentation of men in high-paying occupations. A report that focuses on that factor in greater detail may yield more useful information while reducing the reporting requirement’s complexity and costs.
4. Recent legislation. AB 271 is nearly identical to AB 1916 (Cooper), of the 2017-18 Legislative Session, which was vetoed by the governor.

Analysis Prepared by: Luke Reidenbach / APPR. / (916) 319-2081

Date of Hearing: April 3, 2019

ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT AND RETIREMENT

Freddie Rodriguez, Chair

ABPCA Bill Id:AB 271 (

Author:Cooper) – As Amended Ver:March 6, 2019

SUBJECT: Civil service: Personnel Classification Plan: salary equalization

SUMMARY: Requires an evaluation and report by the California Department of Human Resources (CalHR) on gender and ethnicity pay equity for all civil service classifications where there is an underrepresentation of women and minorities, among other provisions. Specifically, this bill:

1) Requires CalHR, by December 31, 2020, and every two years thereafter, to evaluate all state civil service classifications in the Personnel Classification Plan and prepare a detailed report on gender and ethnicity pay equity in each classification where there is underrepresentation of women and minorities.

2) Requires state agencies to provide statistical information to CalHR for each state civil service classification within that state agency.

3) Requires the report by CalHR to include a plan for each state agency to attain pay equity if a discrepancy is found, and a lawful plan consistent with existing law to recruit, attract, and retain women and minorities into positions where there is underrepresentation of those subgroups. CalHR is required to collaboratively develop the plan with each state agency.

4) Requires each state agency to submit information to CalHR regarding the agency’s progress towards its plan for wage parity and increasing underrepresented groups, including women and minorities. This includes a detailed and proposed timeline for meeting the goal of wage parity and creating a diverse workforce.

5) Requires, until January 1, 2030, CalHR to submit the report to the Legislature no later than January 1 following the completion of the report, and requires the presenting of the facts and findings of the report be the head of each agency to the appropriate legislative budget subcommittees when the budget of that agency is before that subcommittee. The report must include the agency’s efforts toward meeting the goals for wage parity and increasing the number of women and minorities in the state agency.

EXISTING LAW:

1) Requires CalHR to administer the state’s Personnel Classification Plan which includes the allocation of every position to the appropriate class in the classification plan.

2) Requires CalHR to assess the adequacy of the Personnel Classification Plan and, as needed, recommend changes to the State Personnel Board. The recommendations must include a need to establish additional classes, or to abolish or alter existing classes.

3) Requires, pursuant to Section 19827.2 of the Government Code, CalHR to review and analyze existing information, including studies from other jurisdictions relevant to setting salaries for “female-dominated jobs,” and to provide this information to the appropriate legislative policy committees and the state’s collective bargaining units.

5) Establishes the California Equal Pay Act (CEPA), which prohibits an employer from paying its employees less than employees of the opposite sex for equal work.

6) Establishes the California Fair Pay Act, which amended the CEPA by requiring equal pay for employees who perform substantially similar work when viewed as a composite of skill, effort and responsibility, among other provisions.

FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown. This bill is flagged as fiscal by Legislative Counsel.

COMMENTS: According to information provided by the author, “[e]ach year, the United States (U.S.) Census Bureau and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics provide an estimate of the wage gap using annual earnings according to the Current Population Survey Annual Social and Economic Supplement data. Although the gender wage gap has narrowed since the 1960s, after the passage of the federal Equal Pay Act of 1963, female workers nationwide earned 78 percent of what male workers were paid as of 2013. According to the US Census Bureau, in 2015 women made 80 cents for every dollar earned by men.

‘In 2014, California’s statewide gender gap, both public and private, was 15.9 percent, meaning women earned 84 cents on the dollar compared to men. This resulted in $37 billion in lost annual income. This disparity impacts not just these women’s daily lives but also their retirement.

‘Women are the primary or sole earners in nearly 40 percent of families, and married women are the primary or co-earners in two-thirds of California families. In 2016, a report from CalHR found that women in the State workforce earn about 79.5 cents on the dollar compared to men.

‘Two years ago, Assembly Bill 46 (Cooper) expanded California’s pay equity laws to the public sector. However, I believe we must evaluate all state civil service classifications and prepare a detailed report on gender and ethnicity pay equity and each classification where there is an underrepresentation of women and minorities to ensure we are really closing the wage gap.”

The author states that with this bill, the goal is “to achieve pay equity for all women and minorities in all job classifications in the public sector.”

1. Responsibilities of CalHR

As of July 1, 2012, all nonmerit functions of the State Personnel Board moved to CalHR. Among other responsibilities, and for those most relevant to the purposes of this measure, CalHR is responsible for:

a) Labor relations, and represents the Governor as the employer, in employer-employee relations pursuant to the Dills Act, including collective bargaining with the state’s twenty-one collective bargaining units.

b) Personnel management, which CalHR administers the state’s classification plan, salaries, and manager and supervisor program, among other programs related to personnel.

c) Civil rights, where CalHR provides leadership and guidance to departments to protect the civil rights of all state employees.

d) Creating and administering the state’s civil service exam to provide a fair and open process to hire qualified candidates to serve the state.

2) Prior Civil Service Reform Efforts

The Governor’s proposed budget for 2015-16 stated that administrative efforts were focused on updating and streamlining the state’s job classification; modernizing recruitment, examination and hiring practices; developing more robust employee management training programs; reforming probation policies; and, improving employee and management evaluation processes. These reform efforts became known as Civil Service Improvement (CSI).

The Governor’s proposed budget and the enacted budget for 2016-17 included a number of positions and a budgetary allocation to CalHR to develop and implement statewide solutions for workforce and succession planning, recruitment, training, and identified new areas for CSI.

The Governor’s proposed budget for 2017-18 discussed strategies to improve the state’s civil service system to enable state departments to quickly recruit, hire, train, and develop employees. The budget proposal included $2.8 million in reimbursement authority for CalHR to expand the capacity of the statewide training center. In addition, the budget proposal included trailer bill language related to ongoing class consolidation efforts towards increasing promotional opportunities for employees, and probationary periods, among other items. However, due to concerns expressed by CalHR stakeholders, the trailer bill was not included as part of the enacted budget.

The Governor’s 2018-19 Budget Summary offered an indication of efforts regarding CSI. Specifically, the Governor’s Budget Summary stated in part, “[i]n 2015, the Governor initiated CSI, a comprehensive strategy to systematically improve the civil service system.” These efforts also include a continued “…focus on consolidating the state’s multitude of job classifications to streamline the civil service system.” The Budget Summary also briefly discusses the number of classification types to be reviewed, including consolidation of a number of classifications in information technology.

3) Other Relevant Efforts

a) Salary Equalization – Sex, Race and Ethnicity

Pursuant to Section 1197.5 of the Labor Code, public and private employers are prohibited from paying any employee at wage rates less than the rates paid to employees of the opposite sex, race or ethnicity in the same establishment for equal work on jobs the performance of which requires equal skill, effort and responsibility, and which are performed under similar working conditions, except where the payment is made pursuant to a seniority system, a merit system, a system which measures earnings by quantity or quality of production, or a differential based on any bona fide factor other than sex, race or ethnicity.

b) Closing the Gender Pay Equity Gap in Civil Service

Pursuant to existing law, CalHR released its “2015 Report on Women’s Earnings in California State Civil Service Classifications” in February 2018. The report conveys data on state civil service representation by gender for state employees from 1989 through 2015. In the overview of the report, CalHR stated that, “[i]n recognizing the interests of both the Administration and the Legislature in achieving its goal [of closing the gender pay equity gap in state civil service], CalHR also is committed to better understanding the existing pay gap in median salary between men and women in state civil service and presenting strategies for state agencies to close the gap.”

In addition, the overview of the report provided the following key findings:

i) With women in state civil service branching out to higher paying job categories, the gender pay gap [had] improved, closing to 19.9 percent in 2015 from 25.8 percent in 1989. During that period, increases in the median salary of women civil service employees outpaced increases in the median salary for men in civil service. Within specific job classifications, there is no pay gap.

ii) The state civil service pay gap [that] year fell below the general national gap, 20 percent in 2015, but remained above the 14.2 percent gap for the state overall.

iii) Further narrowing the pay gap requires increasing the number, and representation, of women state employees in higher paying job classifications.

iv) California employs women in state civil service in a wider range of occupations than found in general California workforce and in the U.S. workforce.

v) The state civil service employs a larger percentage of women in science, technology, engineering and mathematics careers than found in California’s overall workforce and the national workforce.

vi) Women make up a percentage of the civil service that is higher than their presence in both the California and U.S. workforce.

Further information regarding this report, it can be found on CalHR’s website.^[1]

4) Assembly Bill 271 within the Context of Existing and Ongoing Reforms

According to CalHR’s 2017 CSI Report, the department [is] planning to “[promote] diversity and inclusion in the state’s workforce….” and considered it as “paramount.”

Given prior and continued efforts of CalHR regarding CSI, as proposed, Assembly Bill 271 would establish another element to civil service reform, perhaps separately from CSI, towards planning and evaluation of the state’s civil service towards ensuring pay equity and the equality of pay scales for equivalent classifications.

For further information and details regarding CalHR’s CSI activities, this report also can be found on the department’s website.^[2]

5) Comments by Supporters

Generally, supporters state that this measure would assist in establishing pay equity for all employees, particularly women and minorities, especially when considering the evident pay gap that exists for these groups when compared to their coworkers.

6) Related/Prior Legislation

Assembly Bill 1916 (Cooper, 2018), which was substantially similar to the current bill, was vetoed by the Governor. The Governor’s veto message stated that:

“The information called for by this bill is currently provided by [CalHR] and the State Controller’s office. …it is reasonably complete and provides a basis for sound legislative review.”

Chapter 866, Statutes of 2016 (SB 1063, Hall), amends the Equal Pay Act to prohibit employers from paying employees a wage rate less than the rate paid to employees of a different race or ethnicity for substantially similar work.

Chapter 856, Statutes of 2016 (AB 1676, Campos and Gonzalez), provides that prior salary cannot, by itself, justify any disparity in compensation.

Chapter 776, Statutes of 2016 (AB 46, Cooper), expands the California Equal Pay Equity Act to public sector employers.

Chapter 546, Statutes of 2015 (SB 358, Jackson), also known as the “California Equal Pay Act,” prohibits public and private employers from paying any employee at wage rates less than the rates paid to employees of the opposite sex, race or ethnicity in the same establishment for equal work on jobs the performance of which requires equal skill, effort and responsibility, and which are performed under similar working conditions.

REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:

Support

American Association of University Women of California

American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, AFL-CIO

Association of California State Supervisors

California Association of Professional Scientists

California Labor Federation, AFL-CIO

California Public Defenders Association

National Association of Social Workers, California Chapter

Professional Engineers in California Government

Opposition

None on file

Analysis Prepared by: Michael Bolden / P.E. & R. / (916) 319-3957

1. http://www.calhr.ca.gov/Documents/ocr-women's-earnings-2015.pdf ↑

2. http://www.calhr.ca.gov/Documents/civil-service-improvement-report-2017.pdf ↑