By: Melissa C. Angeline
The New Jersey legislature recently enacted a law requiring employers to post and distribute written notices informing employees of their “right to be free from gender inequity or bias in pay, compensation, benefits or other terms or conditions of employment” under state and federal law. All New Jersey employers with 50 or more employees are subject to this requirement
The written notice must be posted conspicuously in each workplace, in English and Spanish, and provided to all new hires and existing employees. Employers also must re-distribute the notice each year to employees, and at any other time upon request. The law permits employers to deliver the annual notice by various means, including email distribution, paycheck insert, and attachment to the employee handbook. Employers must obtain signed acknowledgments confirming that employees have received, read and fully understand the notice.
Employers should be prepared to post and distribute the notice by November 21, 2012, or if the notice is not available at that time, within 30 days after publication by the New Jersey Division of Labor and Workforce Development.
Melissa C. Angeline is Senior Counsel in the Labor & Employment Group of Cohen Seglias Pallas Greenhall & Furman PC. She concentrates her practice on representing and counseling employers in all aspects of employment law.