On October 8, 2025, Governor Newsom signed SB 642 into law, known as the Pay Equity Enforcement Act, which significantly amends California’s Equal Pay and Pay Transparency laws by broadening key definitions, extending the statute of limitations to three years, and specifying categories of unlawful practices under the act. SB 642’s amendments go into effect on January 1, 2026.
California’s Pay Transparency Law, codified under Labor Code section 432.3, requires employers to provide employees with “pay scale” information, and requires employers with 15 or more employees to affirmatively include pay scale information in job postings. Our prior blog post on California’s Pay Transparency Law is here.
Previously, “pay scale’ was defined to include the salary or wage range that the employer expected to pay “for the position” generally. Now, the amended definition requires employers to provide a “good faith estimate” of the salary or wage range “upon hire.” This means employers must now disclose what they reasonably expect to pay a new hire on day one, rather than offering an estimate for the position as a whole.
Expanded Definition of “Sex” and “Wages”
California’s Equal Pay Law, codified at Labor Code section 1197.5, prohibits employers from paying employees less wages for performing substantially similar work based on sex. Section 1197.5 previously prohibited...
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