New Jersey Employers Required to Post and Distribute Gender Equity Notice

More than a year after Governor Chris Christie signed legislation requiring many New Jersey employers to notify employees of their right to gender equality in compensation and benefits under existing state and federal law, New Jersey’s Department of Labor and Workforce Development (“NJDOL”) has finalized the mandatory notice.  Entitled “Right to be Free of Gender Inequity or Bias in Pay, Compensation, Benefits or Other Terms and Conditions of Employment,” the “gender equity notice” briefly summarizes the various state and federal prohibitions on employment discrimination based upon an individual’s sex, and directs employees to contact the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”), New Jersey’s Division on Civil Rights (“NJDCR”), or the NJDOL for further information.

Beginning January 6, 2014, New Jersey employers with a total of 50 or more employees (regardless of whether those employees work inside or outside of New Jersey) will be required to do the following:

1. Conspicuously post the gender equity notice (in English and Spanish) in a place accessible to all employees in each of the employer’s workplaces (which may include an employer’s internet or intranet site);
2. Provide each employee who was hired on or before January 6, 2014 a written copy of the gender equity notice no later than February 5, 2014;
3. Provide each employee who is hired after January 6, 2014 a written copy of the gender equity notice at the time of the employee’s hiring;
4. Provide each employee with a written copy of the gender equity notice once per calendar year; and
5. Provide each employee with a written copy of the gender equity notice upon their first request.

Employers may distribute the gender equity notice to employees, to satisfy requirements (2) through (5) above, through e-mail delivery, printed material, or through an internet or intranet website (so long as the site is for the exclusive use of all employees, can be accessed by all employees, and the employer provides notice to the employees of its posting).  In addition, the distribution of the gender equity notice must be accompanied by an acknowledgment that the employee has received, read, and understands its terms.  The employee must sign and return the acknowledgment to the employer within 30 days of receipt.

For more information on New Jersey’s new gender equity notice, and employers’ new requirement to post, distribute, and obtain employee acknowledgment, or for assistance in drafting your company’s employee acknowledgment, please contact Dena B. Calo, Esq., Director of the Human Resources Practice Group and Partner in the Employment Law & Litigation Group, at dcalo@genovaburns.com, or Joshua E. Knapp, Esq., Associate in the Employment Law & Litigation Group, at jknapp@genovaburns.com.