California charter schools face additional disclosure, reporting and record-keeping requirements depending on the number of employees. This is the result of California’s new Pay Transparency law, enacted by Senate Bill 1162, which went into effect on January 1, 2023. Some charter schools may be able to utilize their publicly available salary scales to meet the new disclosure requirements, but not all charter schools use salary scales and not all salary scales contain the required information. We recommend all charter schools review and update your policies and practices to ensure your school is in compliance with the new law.

Disclosure Requirements

• Disclosure to Applicants: All employers (regardless of size) must provide, upon reasonable request, the pay scale for the position the applicant has applied for.
• Disclosure to Current Employees: All employers (regardless of size) must provide, upon reasonable request, the pay scale for the position in which an employee is currently employed.
• Job Posting: Employers with 15 or more employees must include the pay range in job postings, including in circumstances when the employer uses a third-party job posting site such as EdJoin.

Reporting Requirements

Private employers with 100 or more employees and/or 100 or more workers hired through labor contractors (employees provided by a third party) must also submit specific pay data information to the state of California no later than May 10, 2023. While the law does not state whether charter schools are included as private employers, California courts and the California Labor Commissioner have at times treated charter schools like private employers in other circumstances. If your school would otherwise meet the threshold (100 or more employees or workers), we would be happy to discuss whether you should be prepared to comply with this requirement. The State has provided detailed information regarding the reporting requirement at California Pay Data Reporting | CRD.

Record-Keeping Requirements

Employers (regardless of size) must also maintain records of each employee’s job title and wage rate history for the duration of their employment plus three years after the end of the employment. These records are to be maintained for inspection by the California Labor Commissioner. While most employers keep personnel records for the recommended four years (rather than the required three), these records must be updated to reflect past job titles and rates of compensation.

Finally, as a reminder, it is unlawful to ask applicants to provide their salary history or to use that history in determining their compensation.

If you have questions on this or other wage and hour laws applicable to charter schools, please contact Wendy Tucker at wendy.tucker@procopio.com.