2026 California Pay Data Reporting is
Coming . . . With New Reporting Requirements
Reports Due May 13, 2026
Annual California Pay Data Reporting is upon us again. This year’s deadline, for both Payroll
Employee and Labor Contractor Employee Reports, is May 13, 2026.
California recently released “preliminary” report templates and FAQs that include
additional data requirements new for 2026 reporting, which we describe below. These preliminary documents are subject to further change by California before the 2026 reports are due. Our firm will monitor these developments and will provide an updated Alert if there are further changes.
Who Must File?
California requires employers with 100 or more employees, nationwide, and with at least one employee in California, to file a Payroll Employee Report. This includes employees who:
1. Physically work at a location in California;
2. Are remote/home-based employees who are physically located in California; or
3. Reside outside of California but report into a California location.
In addition, employers who were provided, nationwide, with 100 or more workers by an
employment agency or other third party (Labor Contractor) in 2025, and at least one of those workers were physically located in California, or reported into a California location, must also file a Labor Contractor Employee Report.
What is Reported?
Both Payroll Employee and Labor Contractor Employee Reports have the same reporting
requirements:
1. A single pay period is selected between October 1 and December 31, 2025 to determine
which employees are to be included in the report.
2. The data required to be reported for employees and labor contractor employees includes:
a. Establishment
b. Pay Band
c. EEO-1 Job Category
d. Race/Ethnicity and Sex
e. Mean and Median Hourly Wage of Similarly Grouped Employees**
f. Remote Employees Located Within California
g. Remote Employees Located Outside of California
h. Exempt/Non-Exempt Status*
i. Full-Time/Part-Time Status*
j. Total Hours Worked in 2025 (Including PTO and Sick Leave Hours)
k. Weeks Worked in 2025 (Including PTO and Sick Leave Hours)*
* New Reporting for 2026 Submissions
** W-2 Box 5 earnings and total hours worked in 2025 are used to determine an employee’s
“California Hourly Wage” and then the mean and median hourly wages of each group.
Expanded Reporting Requirements for 2026
Although not yet finalized, California has released preliminary report templates and FAQs relating to the changes this year for both Payroll and Labor Contractor Employee Reporting –
1. Payroll and Labor Contractor Employee Report templates and pay bands have been updated
for 2026.
a. Employers must use the updated templates. The Reporting Portal will reject submissions using prior year versions of the templates.
2. Whether employees are exempt or non-exempt.
3. Whether employees are full-time or part-time.
4. Total number of weeks an employee worked in 2025.
a. Total hours worked in 2025 remains a reporting requirement as well as weeks worked.
The California Civil Rights Department (CRD) has released preliminary
Report Templates and
Frequently Asked Questions. We anticipate the California Pay Reporting Portal will open in February 2026 and provide employers with the finalized 2026 Reporting Instructions, FAQs and Report Templates.
And, More Reporting Changes Are Slated for 2027
Currently, the California Pay Data Reports aligns with the 10 EEO-1 job categories. For 2027
reporting, employers will be required to use 23 job categories, generally aligning with the Standard Occupation Classification (SOC) groups. Because there is no current exact mapping to the new job categories, this transition will require time and effort.
Employers should start planning before 2027 to allow sufficient time to re-map their current EEO-1 categories to the new, expanded job categories.
* * * *
If you have questions about California Pay Data Reporting or would like help with this year’s
reporting, please contact the Silberman Law professional with whom you work, or simply reply to this Employer Alert.
