Sponsored message
Logged in as
Audience-funded nonprofit news
radio tower icon laist logo
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
Subscribe
  • Listen Now Playing Listen
  • Listen Now Playing Listen
AirTalk

CA now has the toughest gender equity pay law in the country. So how does it work?

SAN FRANCISCO, CA - JULY 11:  California Governor Jerry Brown (C) signs copies of the California Homeowner Bill of Rights (AB 278 and SB 900).
SAN FRANCISCO, CA - JULY 11: California Governor Jerry Brown (C) signs copies of the California Homeowner Bill of Rights (AB 278 and SB 900).
(
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
)
Listen 9:01
CA now has the toughest gender equity pay law in the country. So how does it work?

Gov. Brown yesterday what’s being called the nation’s toughest equal pay law based on gender.

The measure is an expansion of existing laws, and puts the burden of proof on employers being sued for discrimination to explain exactly why two people doing similar work are paid differently. The law also bars employers from retaliating against employees who choose to how much they make at work.

Gov. Brown was expected to sign the bill into law, after it cleared the state legislature unanimously. The law has the support or workers’ and women’s rights, as well as from the state’s business sector.

Guests:

Jennifer Reisch, Legal Director at Equal Rights Advocates (ERA), a San Francisco-based organization that defend women’s rights through advocacy and litigation. ERA is a co-sponsor of the bill that Gov. Brown signed into law