The New Jersey legislature passed Senate Bill 2310 on September 26, 2024, which requires employers to post information on internal and external job openings, including salary ranges and a listing of benefits. The effective date of this law is expected to be in June or July of 2025.
Covered Employers and Positions
New Jersey’s pay transparency law states that a covered employer “means any person, company, corporation, firm, labor organization, or association which has 10 or more employees over 20 calendar weeks and does business, employs persons, or takes application for employment within” the State of New Jersey. The law does not specifically require that the employer be located in or have employees in New Jersey.
Job placement and referral agencies along with other employment agencies are specifically covered by the New Jersey law. However, “temporary help and consulting firms” registered with the state are not required to provide salary ranges or benefit information for “potential future job openings.” These firms must provide pay and benefit information to an applicant for temporary employment when the applicant is interviewed or hired for a specific job opening.
Requirements for Job Postings
The New Jersey Pay Transparency law requires covered employers to provide the following information in each job posting that is internally or externally advertised:
- The hourly wage or salary for the position, or an hourly or salary range for the position
- A “general description of benefits and other compensation programs for which the employee would be eligible”
The New Jersey law does not say if it is sufficient to provide a link to information on benefits and other compensation. The law does state that an employer may increase the wages, benefits, and compensation identified in the job posting when an offer of employment is made.
The law has specific provisions regarding promotions. An employer must make “reasonable efforts to announce, post, or otherwise make known opportunities for promotion” to all employees in “the affected department or departments of the employer’s business.” A promotion for these purposes means “a change in job title and an increase in compensation.” Employers are not required to post promotional opportunities that are based on years of experience or performance. Employers may make promotional decisions on “an emergent basis due to an unforeseen event” without posting the position.
Penalties for Failure to Post Positions
A first violation of the pay transparency law may result in a fine not to exceed $300. Any subsequent violation may yield a fine of up to $600. The law does not provide a warning provision regarding a first violation. Each failure to include the required information regarding a particular opening would constitute a separate violation of the law. Violations are associated with a particular position and not with the number of postings for that particular position.
States Continue Push Towards Pay Transparency
With this law, New Jersey joins at least twenty other states that have pay transparency laws in effect or proposed. At least four other states, including Illinois, Massachusetts, Minnesota, and Vermont, have pay transparency laws set to go in effect in 2025. States have taken a variety of approaches in implementing pay transparency laws. For example, Colorado has a very rigorous pay transparency law that requires the posting of additional information beyond what New Jersey requires, while Hawaii has a pay transparency law that basically just requires the listing of an hourly rate or salary range.
The various ambiguities in the New Jersey pay transparency law are likely to be the subject of administrative rules that will be published by the state’s Department of Labor and Workforce Development. For example, the state is likely to issue administrative rules that clarify which employers and positions are covered by the law. Employers subject to the New Jersey pay transparency law should also be aware that New Jersey municipalities such as Jersey City have separate pay transparency requirements that may apply to an opening.
DCI will provide updates on the New Jersey pay transparency law as administrative rules are issued.
