Gender Equity Notice Must Be Posted By Covered New Jersey Employers By January 6, 2014

Federal and State Law prohibit discrimination in pay, compensation, benefits, or other terms, conditions or privileges of employment based on one’s sex.  See Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, the Equal Pay Act of 1963 and the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination.  New Jersey employers with 50 or more employees are required to post the gender equity notice (the “Notice”) required by the recent September 2012 amendment to the Equal Pay Act.  The Notice can be found here. 

The regulations recently published by the New Jersey Department of Labor set forth the requirements regarding posting of the Notice.  Beginning January 6, 2014, covered employers (that is, employers in New Jersey which have a total of 50 or more employees, whether those employees work inside or outside of New Jersey) must conspicuously post the Notice in a place or places accessible to all employees in each of the employers’ workplaces.  In the event that a covered employer has an internet site or intranet site for exclusive use by its employees and to which all employees have access, posting of the Notice on the covered employer’s internet site or intranet site will satisfy the conspicuous posting requirement.

In addition to being posted, the Notice must also be (i) provided to newly hired employees at the time of hiring (or by February 15, 2014 for employees already hired), (ii) redistributed annually, and (iii) provided upon an employee’s first request. Employers may comply with the notice requirement by sending the Notice to employees through email, printed material, or through an internet site or intranet site, as noted above.

Finally, employers must require employees to sign acknowledgement forms indicating that each employee has received the Notice and has read and understands its terms.  The acknowledgement is to be read and signed by all employees and returned within 30 days of receipt.  The rules regarding the publishing and distribution of the Notice will be available at N.J.A.C. 12:2-2.1 through 2.4