Disparities in wages and salaries remain a major form of workplace discrimination. New Jersey employment laws have tried to address this issue, but it can be difficult to identify wage discrimination, especially when employers attempt to prevent discussion about wages and salaries. The New Jersey Legislature passed a law in September 2024 that requires pay transparency. Covered employers will be required to include wage or salary information in job postings and announcements for transfer opportunities. The law does not allow employees to file lawsuits for violations, but it does impose civil penalties. It will take effect on June 1, 2025.
The pay transparency law applies to New Jersey employers with at least ten employees over at least twenty weeks in a year. Its definition of “employer” is fairly broad. Employment agencies and job placement agencies fall under the definition if they meet the minimum employee requirement.
The law sets two main requirements for covered employers. The first involves the disclosure of pay in postings for “new jobs and transfer opportunities.” It applies to both external postings, such as those posted on job search websites and other resources, and postings made internally within the company. Postings must include:
– The hourly wage or salary for the job, or the wage or salary range; and
– A “general description” of benefits and other compensation for which an employee would be eligible in the listed job.
The second requirement involves opportunities for promotion. Covered employers must “make reasonable efforts” to publicize promotion opportunities to current employees. This may include external publicity, such as through social media, job search websites, or printed flyers; or internally via email or a company intranet. The law allows two exceptions to this requirement:
– A promotion awarded to a current employee that is based on “years of experience or performance”; and
– A promotion that an employer makes “on an emergent basis due to an unforeseen event.”
Employers who fail to follow these requirements will face a civil penalty paid to the state of $300 for the first violation and $600 for each subsequent violation. Each new job posting, transfer opportunity posting, or promotion opportunity is only subject to one fine. For example, an employer that advertises a new job posting in multiple locations and platforms — printed flyers, website listing, social media posts, etc. — without disclosing wages or salary commits a single violation of the law.
The bill had a somewhat unusual path to becoming law. The New Jersey Legislature passed the pay transparency law on September 26, 2024. It went to the governor’s desk for his signature, but he never signed it. He also never vetoed it. The New Jersey Constitution states that if the governor neither signs nor vetoes a bill, it becomes law at noon on the forty-fifth day after the date the Legislature passed it. In this case, the bill became law on November 10, 2024. It states that it will take effect on the first day of the seventh month after its enactment date, which will be June 1, 2025.
New Jersey and New York workers may be entitled to compensation under state or federal law if they have experienced unlawful workplace practices. If you believe your employer has violated your rights, please contact the experienced employment attorneys at the Resnick Law Group today at 973-781-1204, 646-867-7997, or online. We are ready to schedule a confidential consultation to discuss your case.