Join us in our effort to address pay inequity in California!   

Policies that ensure equal pay for all Americans help businesses attract the strongest talent, boost productivity, and benefit our economy.  Unfortunately, women working full time in the United States are typically paid less than what men are paid. In many homes, women play multiple roles, including being the primary breadwinner, primary childcare provider, and/or primary caregiver for aging relatives, all while working more than one job.

Globally, women are paid 77 cents to every dollar that a man makes. As of Fall 2019, women in the United States on average are paid 82 cents for every dollar paid to men. The number is even lower for women of color. Latinas in the U.S. are typically paid 54 cents for every dollar paid to a White, non-Hispanic man, American Indian or Alaska Native make 57 cents, Black women make 62 cents, and Asian women make 89 cents on the dollar.

In recent years, California has taken critical steps to close this gap by passing the strongest pay equity law in the nation, the California Fair Pay Act. To promote proactive compliance, the California Commission on the Status of Women and Girls launched a statewide Pay Equity Task Force. Task Force members include employee advocates, small and large employers, policymakers, experts in human resources and compensation practices, social scientists and legal and other experts from the public and private sectors.  

The task force developed several comprehensive resources, guidelines, and best practices are now available to assist employees, those seeking employment, and employers to better understand equal pay rights, the importance of gender equity in the workplace, and how to get to pay equity.

The Commission and the Office of California First Partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom have partners to promote these resources and to challenge businesses to take the Equal Pay Pledge.  By signing the pledge, your business commits to:

• Conduct an annual company-wide gender pay analysis.
• Review hiring and promotion processes and procedures to reduce unconscious bias and structural barriers.
• Identify and promote other best practices that will close the pay gap to ensure fundamental equity for all workers.

By joining this effort, you will receive the CA Pay Equity Task Force seal to display on your company website, your company will be listed on The Governor’s Website, and you will receive a thank you letter along with a social media sharing toolkit to spread the word.

We hope we can count on you as an equal pay champion and look forward to partnering with you as we move towards pay equity in California.