New Jersey Employers Must Disclose Pay and Benefits Information to Employees and Applicants

Key Takeaways

• New Jersey employers with 10 or more employees must include the compensation and benefits for any job openings or transfer opportunities that are advertised or posted. Additionally, employers are required to make reasonable efforts to share news of any promotion opportunities with current employees before making a hiring decision.
• The law takes effect June 1, 2025.
• Employers that violate the new law will be subject to civil penalties.

Joining New York, California and several other states, New Jersey has a new wage transparency law, signed by Gov. Phil Murphy this week, that requires certain employers to disclose wage or salary ranges and general benefits information in job postings and advertisements, and to inform current employees about promotion opportunities. The law takes effect on June 1, 2025.

Who Is Covered by the Law

The law defines an employer as "any person, company, corporation, firm, labor organization, or association" with 10 or more employees over a period of 20 calendar weeks. It applies broadly to employers with employees in the state as well as to employers that do business or take applications for employment within New Jersey. Job placement and referral agencies are also covered by the law.

Disclosure Requirements

Once the law takes effect, employers will be required to publish the hourly wage or salary, or a range of the hourly wage or salary, in every advertisement or posting about a new job or transfer opportunity, regardless of whether the listing is internal or external. Each posting must also include a general description of the benefits and other compensation programs for which the employee would be eligible. Employers, however, are permitted to offer an applicant a higher wage or more generous benefits than are listed in the posting.

The new law also states that when employers advertise opportunities for promotion internally or externally, they must make "reasonable efforts" to announce, post or otherwise make known these openings to all current employees in the affected departments prior to making a decision on who will fill the position. A promotion is defined under the statute to mean a "change in job title and an increase in compensation." This new requirement does not apply where a current employee is promoted based on their years of experience or performance. Furthermore, employers are exempt from this requirement when there is a need to make a promotion on an "emergent basis due to an unforeseen event."

Temporary staffing agencies and consulting firms are required to disclose the pay and benefit information for specific job openings as well, but these disclosures are only required to be provided to the applicant at the time of interview or hire for a specific job. The disclosures are not required when the listing is made for the purpose of identifying qualified applicants for potential future job openings.

Violations

Employers that fail to comply with the law will be fined up to $300 for the first violation and $600 for each subsequent violation by the New Jersey commissioner of labor and workforce development. Notably, there is no private right of action for noncompliance with the law. The statute provides that a failure to comply with the disclosure requirements for a job/transfer or promotion opportunity will be considered one violation, regardless of the total number of postings or advertisements that list the opportunity.

***

As the effective date of the law approaches, BakerHostetler's Labor and Employment Practice Group will be available to help advise employers on compliance with the new posting requirements.