Is Your Company Ready for Mandated Diversity?

September 4, 2020

A proposed bill, AB 979, has been introduced for consideration by Californian law makers. If approved, it will mandate that Californian companies increase diversity on the company boards by 2022. [Note: AB979 has been enacted into law since we sent out this Weekly Brief in early September.]

 

AB 979 outlines that in 2019, 90% of Chief Executive were white. Meanwhile, only 16% of company boards have at least one African American board member and just 13% have at least one Latino board member.

 

The bill proposes to increase the number of directors from underrepresented communities as follows:

  • Three for companies with nine or more directors
  • Two for companies with five to eight directors
  • One for companies with four or fewer directors.

 

The bill intends to promote diversity from the following populations:

individuals who self-identify as Black, African American, Hispanic, Latino, Asian, Pacific Islander, Native American, Native Hawaiian, or Alaska Native, or who self-identify as gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender.

 

You can read AB 979 here.

 

Given the relatively short timeline for compliance, it may be worth consulting with diversity recruiters to ensure a steady flow of qualified candidates in your pool.

 

Don’t hesitate to reach out if your company requires assistance with its corporate governance, we’re here to help.

Disclaimer

The materials available at this website are for informational purposes only and not for the purpose of providing legal advice. You should contact your attorney to obtain advice with respect to any particular issue or problem. Use of and access to this website or any of the e-mail links contained within the site do not create an attorney-client relationship between CGL and the user or browser. The opinions expressed at or through this site are the opinions of the individual author and may not reflect the opinions of the firm or any individual attorney.

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