Covered employers in New Jersey must now comply with pay transparency obligations for job advertisements and promotional opportunities, as described in our prior GT Alert. As a reminder, covered employers include any person, company, corporation, firm, labor organization, or association that has 10 or more employees over 20 or more calendar weeks, and does business, employs persons, or takes applications for employment within New Jersey. The New Jersey Department of Labor (NJ DOL) has now provided interpretative guidance on the new law in an FAQ.
Notable provisions in the FAQs include the NJ DOL’s position that an employer need not have an employee in New Jersey to be covered by this law:
Must an employer have an employee in New Jersey to be covered by the Pay Transparency law?
No. Under the Pay Transparency law, an employer may still be covered if it has 10 or more employees over 20 calendar weeks, whether those employees work inside or outside of New Jersey. However, if none of the employer’s employees work inside New Jersey, the employer will only be covered if it does business in New Jersey or takes applications for employment within New Jersey.
The FAQ also addresses nationwide job postings:
Are nationwide job postings included under the [New Jersey] Pay Transparency law?
It depends. If the employer has the minimum number of employees to be covered by the Pay Transparency law and the employer does business, employs persons, or takes applications for employment within New Jersey, then yes, its job postings must comply with the law, even if the employer is advertising nationally or accepting applications from anywhere in the country.
The NJ DOL also includes details regarding potential penalties:
Penalties for employers violating the Pay Transparency law.
Any employer who violates the Pay Transparency law can be assessed a penalty up to $300 for the first violation, and up to $600 for each subsequent violation.
Under the law, if an employer publishes the same job posting in multiple places at the same time – for example, in a newspaper, job search websites, and social media – NJDOL must consider these posts collectively as one violation of the law.
However, if an employer advertises multiple roles in its organization at the same time, NJDOL will assess one penalty for each role where the job posting fails to comply with the law.
(emphasis in original).
Employers should review these FAQs to confirm their understanding of their obligations under New Jersey’s Pay Transparency law and consult with with counsel to address any compliance questions.