California employers can start submitting their annual pay data reports to the California Civil Rights Department (CRD) — with their 2024 reports due May 14, 2025. New versions of the pay data reporting Excel templates, CSV examples, user guide and portal are available along with other new resources.
Private employers with at least 100 employees and/or at least 100 workers hired through labor contractors must annually report pay, demographic and other workforce data. Employers must report detailed information covering a snapshot period of the previous year, including:
- The number of employees by race, ethnicity and sex in 10 different job title categories;
- The number of employees by race, ethnicity and sex, whose annual earnings fall within each of the pay bands used by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics in the Occupational Employment Statistics survey; and
- The median and mean hourly rate within each job category, for each combination of race, ethnicity and sex.
For 2024, the CRD has refined the portal and excel templates; for example, in Excel, users can hover their cursor on a column heading to see relevant instructions. It’s important to not use previous Excel templates or CSV examples from prior years — the portal will reject those submissions because those versions are outdated.
Also new for this year, Middle Eastern or North African (MENA) has been added as a new race/ethnicity category. For more information on this addition, see “How should employers report employees’ race and ethnicity?” in the FAQs.
Employers can also use the new-for-2024 CRD’s employer handbook, which provides instructions for submitting and certifying annual reports to CRD, including the types of data requested and relevant deadlines. Excel and CSV template instructions are now available and provide step-by-step guidance for employers to complete their Payroll Employee Reports and/or Labor Contractor Employee Reports, including data entry instructions, field (i.e., column) descriptions, code values and definitions, and field types.
Remember that employers have until May 14, 2025, to file their reports — start planning now!
Katie Culliton, Editor, CalChamber
CalChamber members can read more about “Pay Data Reporting in California” in EEO Reporting Requirements in the HR Library. Not a member? Learn about the benefits of membership.
