Lindabury, McCormick, Estabrook & Cooper, P.C. Firm News & Events
On June 1st, 2025, New Jersey’s Pay Transparency Act (the “Act”) goes into effect, requiring New Jersey employers to identify certain wage or salary information in both internal and external job postings. The Act is another effort in a series of steps taken by the state of New Jersey to promote pay equity.
Posting Requirements
The Act applies to employers, with ten (10) or more employees over twenty (20) calendar weeks, who conduct business or accept applications for employment in the state of New Jersey. To meet this threshold, the Act does not specify whether the employer must have ten (10) or more employees who actually work in the state or whether employers must also count remote employees. Since the Act is silent on this point, we recommend that employers with ten (10) or more total employees prepare for compliance.
Under the Act, employers must disclose “the hourly wage or salary, or a range of the hourly wage or salary, and a listing of benefits and other compensation programs for which the employee would be eligible within the employee’s first twelve (12) months of employment.” Notably, this requirement does not prohibit an employer from increasing the wages, benefits, and compensation identified in the job posting at the time of making an offer for employment to an applicant. Temporary help service firms and consulting firms are not required to disclose pay and benefits for the purpose of identifying qualified applicants for potential future job openings. This exception does not apply to job postings for existing job openings.
New Jersey’s Pay Transparency Act also requires that employers make “reasonable efforts to announce, post, or otherwise make known opportunities for promotion that are advertised internally within the employer or externally on internet-based advertisements, postings, printed flyers, or other similar advertisements to all current employees in the affected department” prior to making a promotion decision. A promotion is broadly defined as “a change in job title and an increase in compensation.” Exceptions exist for promotion decisions made on an “emergent basis due to an unforeseen event.”
Enforcement
The Pay Transparency Act does not provide for a private right of action by an employee. Instead, the New Jersey Commissioner of Labor and Workforce Development has enforcement authority. An employer who violates the requirements of the Act will be subject to a civil penalty of up to $300 for the first violation and up to $600 for each subsequent violation.
Next Steps
Prior to June 1st, 2025, New Jersey employers should review their job postings and internal promotion procedures to ensure compliance with the Act’s requirements. If employers have not already established salary ranges for all positions, they should consider implementing pay ranges immediately. Given the Act’s intent to promote greater pay equity, employers should also consider an internal audit to ensure their pay practices are compliant with both state and federal law.
If you have any questions regarding the Pay Transparency Act, please contact the Labor & Employment Group at Lindabury, McCormick, Estabrook & Cooper, P.C.