In late 2012, the New Jersey Legislature enacted N.J.S.A. 34:11-56.12 to require employers with 50 or more employees to post a notice informing employees of the right to gender equity in pay, compensation, benefits, or other terms and conditions of employment under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination, and the Equal Pay Act of 1963, all of which prohibit wage or compensation discrimination based on an employee’s gender. After a somewhat extended administrative rulemaking process, the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development (“NJDOL”)  very recently issued the required notice poster. A copy of the notice, in both English and Spanish, is available at this link: http://lwd.dol.state.nj.us/labor/forms_pdfs/EmployerPosterPacket/genderequityposter.pdf.

The distribution obligations for this new notice poster are described in a Bulletin on the NJDOL’s website and are briefly summarized as follows:

1. Covered employers (i.e., employers in New Jersey having a total of 50 or more employees, whether those employees work inside or outside of New Jersey) became obligated to post the notice in a conspicuous place on January 6, 2014. This can be accomplished by posting the notice on an Internet or intranet site for exclusive use by the employer’s employees and to which all employees have access.

2. On or by February 5, 2014, covered employers must provide a written copy of the notice to each employee who was hired on or before January 6, 2014.

3. Going forward, covered employers must provide at the time of hiring a written copy of the notice to each new employee hired after January 6.

4. On or before December 31 of each year, covered employers must provide each employee a written copy of the notice.

5. Finally, effective as of January 6, 2014, covered employers must provide each employee a copy of the notice upon the employee’s first request.

The obligations in numbers 2 through 5 above can be satisfied through email delivery, by providing a printed copy, or by posting the information on an Internet or intranet site that meets the same conditions set forth in obligation 1 above. When complying with obligations 2 through 5, the covered employer must also provide an acknowledgment that the employee has received the notice and has read and understands its terms. That acknowledgment is to be signed by the employee – either in writing or by means of electronic verification – and returned to the employer within 30 days of the employee's receipt of it.