New Pay Equity Legislation developments in MA and CA:

Massachusetts passed a new Pay Equity Law on August 1, 2016. It will be effective on July 1, 2018. As described in SHRM: “The existing law essentially requires a plaintiff to show ‘unequal pay for equal work,’ according to Mark Burak, an attorney with Ogletree Deakins in Boston. The standard will be considerably broadened under the new law.

‘Comparable work,’ as referred to in the new law, means ‘work that is substantially similar in that it requires substantially similar skill, effort and responsibility and is performed under similar working conditions.’ The law further provides that job titles or job descriptions alone can’t be used to determine comparability. As an illustration of the change, Burak said that a male janitor and a female hotel housekeeper may have comparable jobs under the new provisions even though the job titles and duties aren’t the same.

He noted that the law is intended to help fix the gender-based pay gap for women, but it can also apply to men who are paid less than women in comparable jobs.

The act additionally bars employers from:

 Preventing employee discussions about wages.
 Retaliating against employees for exercising their rights under the act.

In addition, the law prohibits salary history questions, and provides a defense from liability through an employer Self Audit, and establishes a commission to study the issues further.

See: “New Mass. Pay Equity Law Prohibits Salary-History Questions, Expansive legislation will broaden existing equal pay law,” by Lisa Nagele-Piazza, SHRM-SCP, J.D., SHRM, Aug 5, 2016 (Available for SHRM members only.)
Legislation: Here
See also: Massachusetts Equal Pay/Comparable Worth: What you need to know

California: Proposed legislation would limit historical salary information, and support California’s Fair Pay Act, effective January 1, 2016, which requires employers to show that any differences in pay between men and women are due to seniority, education, a merit system or other permissible factors.

See “He Earned, She Earned: California Bill Would Limit Use of Salary Information,” by June Bell, SHRM, August 29, 2016) (Available for SHRM members only.)

Legislation: here
See also: FAQs at CA.gov