?California recently became the first state to require its agencies to record demographic data on employees who are descendants of enslaved people. The new law creates two separate reporting categories for Black individuals who are descendants of people who were enslaved in the United States and Black individuals who are not descendants of people who were enslaved in the United States.
The state’s comptroller’s office and the Department of Human Resources can begin collecting the data on Jan. 1, 2024. The data will be included in a public report on or after Jan. 1, 2025. We rounded up a selection of relevant articles from SHRM Online and other trusted news sources.
Potential for Reparations
Employees will not be required to disclose this demographic information, but advocates who have been pushing for this expansion of data collection say it is for the Black community’s benefit, according to the Coalition for a Just and Equitable California. In recent years, the state has been working to determine whether the state will pay reparations to Black Californians, particularly those who are descendants of slaves.
Identifying Disparities
The new disaggregation mandate could help identify disparities in income, health outcomes, career growth and state agencies’ leadership, among other things. It also could allow the state to set aside specific benefits or programs as redress, according to Chris Lodgson, lead organizer of the Coalition for a Just and Equitable California. Black individuals who are the descendants of slaves have different needs, compared to Black immigrants, he said.
(Axios)
Difficulties in Documentation
Nkechi Taifa, director of the Reparation Education Project, noted that the history of slavery is complex in terms of proving lineage. Ancestry is not easy to document, partly because of slave owners frequently moving people among plantations in the U.S., the Caribbean and South America.
Preventing Discrimination
While some employers are required to track demographic information on applicants and employees, it is a recommended practice for all employers to protect against unlawful discrimination claims and to monitor diversity efforts. Employers with 100 or more employees are required to file an EEO-1 report with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) by March 31 of each year. The report tracks race and gender information of employees, but not of applicants.
Reducing Racial Pay Gap
In a continued effort to reduce gender and racial pay gaps, California passed a law in 2020 that requires certain California employers to submit annual information on their employees’ pay data by race, ethnicity and gender to the state’s Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH). According to the state legislature, California believes continued data collection will permit the state to more efficiently identify wage patterns and allow for targeted enforcement of equal pay or discrimination laws.
