New California Fair-Pay Law Reaches Kansas City-Based Employers

Jim McDonald was quoted in The Kansas City Star on January 4, 2016. The article “New California Fair-Pay Law Reaches Kansas City-Based Employers” discussed how beginning this year, any employer who has employees on the payroll in California has an added workplace concern: Is there a pay disparity between men and women who do “substantially similar” work?

Jim provided advice to employers regarding a new California fair-pay law, effective Jan. 1, that applies to all employers who have workers in the state, regardless of where the company is based or how big it is.

“My advice to employers is to make sure that their job descriptions are accurate,” said Jim. “It’s the content of the job, not the title that’s important … Then make a pay comparison across gender.”

Jim advised his employer clients to understand the defensible reasons for pay differentials, such as education levels, job seniority, total work experience or merit pay systems to be able to explain pay gaps beyond gender difference.

“This law broadens the test of what the same or similar work is,” he added.

To read the full article, please visit The Kansas City Star.