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New Jersey Enacts Sweeping Equal Pay Law


New Jersey has been on quite the roll lately, right?  Last week I noted the paid sick leave bill that Governor Phil Murphy signed into law.  This week, I want to note an equal pay bill that Governor Murphy recently signed into law as well.

Readers might recall that a similar equal pay bill was vetoed by former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie a few years ago when he was Governor of the state.  But as the saying goes, there is a new sheriff in town.  (And this particular sheriff, well Governor, has made signing an equal pay bill a major focal point of his administration).

The Diane B. Allen Equal Pay Act is the nation's strongest law that combats both gender pay discrimination and wage discrimination in New Jersey.  (The Act is named after a former New Jersey state senator that was a victim of pay discrimination).  The Act addresses wage discrimination in several ways:  1) it increases the possibility that women can uncover wage discrimination (pay differences among genders would be permitted only if the employer could show the difference was based upon seniority, education and training, or merit); 2) it strengthens the legal tools women can used when seeking justice; 3) it expands the number of years of back pay a victim can recover (from the previous two years to now up to six years); and 4) it deters companies from perpetuating wage discrimination (by requiring companies that bid for public contracts to report salaries by race, ethnicity, and gender by job category).

Interesting to note that the Act also protects employees that discuss their pay with fellow coworkers.  Employers are now prohibited from retaliating against employees who discuss their wages with each other and are prohibited from requiring employees to sign non-disclosure agreements.

Under this new law, set to to into effect on July 1, employers found to be in violation can be liable for triple damages to aggrieved employees.  This does not give employers much time to ensure they are in compliance.  I would suggest that employers in the state start getting their ducks in a row...July 1 will be here quickly.


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