Small Business
By Elissa Frank, NJBIA Vice President of Government Affairs On Jul 8, 2025
Last month, a new law went into effect which requires transparency as it relates to compensation in employment listings as well as promotional opportunities. What follows is a description of compliance procedures that employers must follow:
Covered Employers
The law, which was signed by Gov. Phil Murphy on November 18, 2024, defines “employer” as “any person, company, corporation, firm, labor organization or association which has 10 or more employees over 20 calendar weeks and does business, employs persons, or takes applications for employment within this state.” The law also applies to job placement, referral and employment agencies.
Required Pay Disclosures
Under the new law, covered employers are required to disclose in each posting for new jobs and transfer opportunities, the hourly wage or salary (or range of the hourly wage or salary) for the position and a general description of benefits and other compensation programs for which the employee would be eligible.
Notably, the law allows employers to increase the wages, benefits and compensation identified in the job posting at the time of making an offer for employment to the applicant.
Temporary help service firms and consulting firms are also required to provide the same pay and benefit information to an applicant for temporary employment at the time of interview or hire for a specific job opening. However, temporary help service and consulting firms are not required to include this information in postings “that are posted for the purpose of identifying qualified applicants for potential future job openings and not for existing job openings.”
Promotional Opportunity Notice Requirement
The law requires covered employers to make “reasonable efforts” to announce, post, or otherwise make known, promotional opportunities (whether advertised internally or externally) to all current employees in the affected department(s) of the employer’s business prior to making a promotion decision.”
There are exceptions to this requirement. For instance, a current employee who is awarded a promotion on the basis of years of experience or performance would not be subject to the law’s notification requirements. Additionally, the law does not prohibit employers from making a promotion on an emergent basis due to an unforeseen event.
Remedies and Enforcement
An employer’s failure to comply with the law’s provisions would be considered one violation regardless of the number of postings that list, or forums that advertise, that job opening or transfer opportunity. Similarly, an employer’s failure to comply with the law’s provisions in connection with a particular promotional opportunity would be considered one violation for all listings of that promotion, even if that promotion is listed on multiple forums.
Any employer that fails to comply with the law would be subject to a civil penalty not to exceed $300 for the first violation and $600 for each subsequent violation. The law provides the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development with the power to enforce these penalties. Applicants and employees will not have a private right of action under this law.
About the Author: Elissa Frank is vice president of government affairs at the New Jersey Business & Industry Association. She also heads the Focus NJ Center for Economic Research & Workforce Solutions.
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