By Megan Winter ( October 26, 2017, 12:05 PM EDT) -- For the third year in a row, California strengthened its equal pay protections for employees by passing AB 168, which enacts additional restrictions intended to combat historical and systemic disparities in pay between employees of different genders, races and ethnicities. Existing California law requires companies to provide equal pay to employees of different genders, races and ethnicities who perform substantially similar work when viewed as a composite of skill, effort and responsibility. Any pay disparities must be justified by a bona fide factor, such as education, training or experience. On Oct. 12, 2017, Gov. Jerry Brown signed AB 168, which adds Labor Code Section 432.3, prohibiting companies from relying on salary history information of an applicant when determining whether to offer employment or when determining the amount of compensation to offer an applicant. The law further forbids businesses from even requesting salary history information from an applicant....