On September 21, 2012 Governor Christie signed the nation’s most comprehensive equal pay notification law. Under the new law, employers with 50 or more employees will be required to conspicuously post and distribute to employees a new notice of their right to be free from gender inequity or bias in pay, compensation, benefits or other terms of employment. The NJ Department of Labor and Workface Development (NJDOL) will develop the notification.
The distribution requirements of the new law are extensive. Covered employers are required to distribute a copy of the notice: (1) to all employees no later than 30 days after it is issued by the NJDOL; (2) at the time of an employee’s hiring; (3) to all employees annually on or before December 31 of each year; and (4) at any time upon the first request of an employee. Employers may distribute the notice by email, via printed material, or through an internet/intranet website provided the site is for the “exclusive use of all workers, can be accessed by all workers, and the employer provides notice to the workers of its posting.”
Further, the distributed notice must be accompanied by an acknowledgment to be signed (or electronically verified) by the employee, affirming that the employee has read and understands the notice.
The notice shall be posted and distributed in both English and Spanish, and any other language for which the NJDOL has made the notification available and which the employer reasonably believes is the first language of a significant number of the employer’s workforce.
The law becomes effective November 21, 2012, however, it is questionable as to whether the NJDOL will have the form available by that date.
Join us for a one-hour webinar on the new requirements – click here for details and to register.