Compliance — New Jersey

New Jersey pay transparency compliance.

Coverage thresholds, what has to be disclosed, by when, and what happens if it isn’t — for employers with people in New Jersey.

New Jersey

What New Jersey actually requires

New Jersey requires benefits in the posting and an internal announcement before any promotion decision. The second one lives in your recruiting process, not your job template, which is why it is the one most often missed.

S2310 / A4151 (P.L. 2024)

Pay, benefits, and promotions

Effective 1 June 2025. Employers with at least 10 employees over 20 calendar weeks that do business in, employ people in, or take applications in New Jersey.

Disclose
The hourly wage or salary, or a range the employer would consider, and a general description of all benefits and other compensation programs the employee would be eligible for
Scope
New jobs, transfer opportunities and promotions, internal or external
Above the range
Employers may pay above the posted figure
Penalty
$300 first violation, $600 each subsequent. One penalty per non-compliant posting regardless of how many platforms it appears on
Promotion notice

Announce before you decide

The provision that catches employers who fixed the template and stopped.

Requirement
Make reasonable efforts to announce promotion opportunities to all current employees in the affected department(s) before making a promotion decision
Exceptions
Promotions awarded on an emergent basis due to an unforeseen event, or based on years of experience or performance
Enforcement
NJ DOL. No private right of action
State contractors
Separately, under the Diane B. Allen Equal Pay Act, holders of State contracts file employee reports covering gender, race/ethnicity, job category, compensation and hours worked
In detail

The parts that catch employers out

The 20-calendar-week rule is the counting rule

The threshold is 10 employees over 20 calendar weeks. Whether those 10 must be New Jersey-based is read by most firms as yes, but is not spelled out in the statute. Treat it as unresolved and count conservatively.

Job placement and employment agencies meeting the threshold are covered in their own right.

For nonprofits with State contracts, the second regime matters more

The Diane B. Allen Equal Pay Act reporting duty applies to holders of qualifying State contracts — services or public works — and requires employee reports covering gender, race and ethnicity, job category, compensation and hours worked, filed at contract commencement. It does not apply to municipal or county contracts.

Many New Jersey human services agencies hold exactly these contracts. The annual cadence after the initial filing is unverified; confirm with counsel.

Getting ready

A workable sequence

We support New Jersey employers on the compensation side — pay equity analysis, range architecture, and how executive pay reads inside a filing or a published range. We are not attorneys and this page is not legal advice; anything marked unverified above should be confirmed with employment counsel before you act on it.

For advisory work in the region see our Trenton executive compensation page.

Common questions

New Jersey pay compliance

Does New Jersey require benefits in job postings?

Yes. Postings must include the hourly wage or salary, or a range the employer would consider, plus a general description of all benefits and other compensation programs the employee would be eligible for. That is broader than Virginia, Maine, Vermont or Hawaii, none of which require benefits.

What is New Jersey's promotion notice requirement?

Employers must make reasonable efforts to announce promotion opportunities to all current employees in the affected departments before making a promotion decision. Exceptions apply for emergent promotions due to an unforeseen event, and for promotions awarded on years of experience or performance.

Does New Jersey pay law apply to remote workers?

Generally yes where the role could be performed in New Jersey or reports into a New Jersey supervisor, office or worksite. The specifics vary — some statutes test on where work is performed, others on the reporting line, and several reach out-of-state employers recruiting locally-based remote staff.

Is this page legal advice?

No. It is a compensation practitioner's summary of published requirements, current as at July 2026, intended to help scope the compensation work these obligations create. Items we could not verify are marked as such rather than glossed. Confirm current requirements with employment counsel before acting.

Get in touch

Get ahead of it.

Pay equity analysis and range architecture, sequenced so findings can be acted on rather than merely disclosed.

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