New Legislation Requires Posting of Notice Regarding Rights to Equal Pay

Governor Christie recently signed new legislation into law requiring employers in New Jersey to post written notice of their employees’ right to gender equality in employment, including compensation, pay, benefits and other conditions and terms of employment.  This new legislation is applicable to all companies with 50 employees or more and becomes effective on Nov. 21, 2012.

Specific equal work for equal pay notice requirements

The law supplements New Jersey’s Equal Pay Act, which already prohibits an employer from discriminating in the manner or rate of pay on a gender basis.  The notice will be produced by the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development and must be posted in a conspicuous location where all employees have access to the notice.

The legislation also requires that companies covered by this provision provide a copy of the notice to all employees and that the notice be acknowledged in writing.  The notice must be provided in both English, Spanish and any other language spoken by at least 10 percent of employees at the company.

New Jersey gender equality lawyers for pursuing unequal pay claims

If you are a female engaged in the same work as a male employee in your company but receiving less pay, you may be eligible to pursue a legal claim under the Federal Equal Pay Act and/or the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination.  To pursue a legal claim based on unequal pay, you must establish that your duties are substantially similar to those being performed by men receiving superior compensation.

An equal pay claim may be pursued even if there are other female employees that are paid as much as the highest paid male employee.  It is not a defense to an equal pay claim to establish some female employees are not subject to unequal pay discrimination.

When a court evaluates an equal pay act claim, the court compares the jobs rather than the employees.  The jobs must involve a common core of tasks.  If the employee is able to establish that the jobs are sufficiently similar, the employer must establish that the disparity of pay is related to a legitimate cause, such as merit, seniority, productivity or other factors other than gender.

Our experienced attorneys are committed to providing aggressive legal representation to those who face gender discrimination.  If you believe that your employer has discriminated against you based on gender or sex, we invite you to contact our Hackensack law firm.

Neil H. Deutsch On G+