California is doubling down on pay equity and transparency in 2026. Building on Senate Bill 1162—which created California’s modern pay data reporting program and job‑posting pay scale rules—the Civil Rights Department (CRD) will continue to require detailed annual pay data submissions, and new legislation sharpens enforcement and refines transparency standards. For HR professionals and in‑house counsel, that means earlier coordination with payroll and talent acquisition, tighter vendor management, and stronger documentation.

The Core Requirements Are Not Changing

California law requires private sector employers with 100 or more employees to submit an annual “Payroll Employee Report” to the CRD. Employers with 100 or more workers hired through labor contractors must also submit a separate “Labor Contractor Employee Report.” The reports are filed through the CRD’s online portal. The deadline is the second Wednesday in May each year; for Reporting Year 2025, that date is May 13, 2026. The CRD’s “Pay Data Reporting” website page and FAQs confirm the cadence, templates, and mechanics, and emphasize that filings must be made through the portal. Failure to file can trigger enforcement action.

What Information is Included in Report?

Employers report workforce counts by establishment, job category, pay band, race/ethnicity, and sex, and must include the median and mean hourly rate for each grouping. The “snapshot period” is a single pay period between October 1 and December 31 of the reporting year.

What’s New for 2026?

For 2026, there are a few new requirements:

• Senate Bill 464, which Governor Newsom signed October 2025, toughens California’s pay data reporting regime by making penalties effectively mandatory when the CRD seeks them and requiring employers to store demographic data separately from personnel records. We also expect adjustments to job categories in 2027. HR should plan now for stricter enforcement and cleaner data governance.

• The California Legislature also enacted SB 642, which is effective on January 1, 2026 and refines the definition of “pay scale” in job postings. The new law also extends the statute of limitations for certain pay transparency and equal pay claims to three years, with a six‑year look‑ Employers should expect greater scrutiny of posted ranges, the documentation supporting those ranges, and retention practices.

Deadlines and Penalties

Under Government Code section 12999(f), the CRD may seek civil penalties of $100 per employee for a first failure to file and $200 per employee for subsequent failures, and recover its enforcement costs.

Practical Trouble Spots

There are a few areas of complication:

• Multi‑entity organizations may need to determine whether related entities comprise an “integrated enterprise,” which affects whether a combined report is permissible.

• Vendor and labor‑contractor arrangements can create timing problems if the contractor’s data are late or incomplete; the statute allows a court to apportion penalties to a labor contractor that failed to provide data, but the client employer is still responsible for filing on time.

• Mergers, acquisitions, and spin‑offs complicate year‑over‑year comparability and snapshot decisions; The CRD’s FAQs address several scenarios and encourage clear remarks when data are missing or changed by corporate events.

The Next Steps

California employers covered by the reporting requirements have a few tasks:

• Build a 2026 reporting calendar. Work backward from May 13, 2026. Set internal cut‑offs for payroll validation, demographic QA, job category mapping, and executive sign‑

• Lock your snapshot period. Choose—and document—a late‑year pay period that produces stable data.

• Coordinate early with labor contractors. Contractually require required data on a firm timeline; specify fields and who will certify the accuracy.

• Tighten data governance. Store demographic data separately from personnel records and review access controls to align with SB 464 commentary.

• Tune job postings. Update the definition and documentation of “pay scale,” expand retention practices, and train recruiters on SB 642 refinements.

• Validate analytics. Recheck pay band mapping, mean/median calculations, and any custom groupings; keep an audit trail of changes.

• Prepare for questions. Brief leaders on how to discuss pay ranges and pay equity initiatives without over‑

Bottom Line

California’s 2026 cycle will not be business as usual. Expect heightened scrutiny of the accuracy and governance of your pay data reporting and sharper expectations around what you publish in job postings. Treat the May deadline as the end of a year‑round process—not a one‑time upload.

Shaw Law Group is tracking the CRD guidance and the rollout of SB 642 and SB 464; if you need a readiness review or updates to job posting and reporting workflows, we can help.

About Shaw Law Group 

At Shaw Law Group, we do more than practice employment law—we partner with employers to build compliant, respectful, and productive workplaces. From day-to-day advice and counsel to impartial workplace investigations, proactive HR audits, dynamic training programs, and sensitive pre-litigation matters, our experienced team helps clients stay ahead of the curve—and out of court.