Continuing the trend of worker protections, on July 25, 2019, New Jersey signed Assembly Bill 1094 into law, which will make it illegal for employers to ask applicants about prior wages, salary, and benefits. The hope is that this law will continue to close the pay gap that often effects women and minorities. An employer who violates the law faces a penalty of $1,000, $5,000, or $10,000, payable to the State’s Department of Labor and Workforce Development. If the applicant is a member of a protected class, he or she can also seek redress pursuant to the remedies available under New Jersey’s Law Against Discrimination, including maintaining a private right of action. However, the new law removes certain remedies, including punitive damages, that would typically be available in a LAD claim. The new law is set to go into effect in six months. The full text of the bill can be found here: https://www.njleg.state.nj.us/bills/BillView.asp?BillNumber=A1094
In 2018, New Jersey passed the Diane B. Allen Equal Pay Act, which made it illegal to pay an employee who is a member of a protected class less than the rate paid to employees who are not members of that protected class for substantially similar work.
