EQUAL PAY ACT SIGNED INTO LAW

OCEAN TOWNSHIP –  Legislation sponsored by Assemblywoman Joann Downey to promote equal pay for women was signed into law by the Governor on Tuesday.

The law (A-1) modifies current law, including the Law Against Discrimination (LAD), to strengthen protections against employment discrimination and promote equal pay for equal women.

Specifically, the law will amend the LAD to make it an unlawful practice for an employer to discriminate against an employee because the employee is a member of a class protected against discrimination by the LAD, by paying a rate of compensation, including benefits, to employees of a protected class less than the rate paid to employees not of the class for substantially similar work, when viewed as a composite of skill, effort, and responsibility.

“Equal pay is vital for hardworking families in New Jersey, many of which increasingly rely on women’s earnings to make ends meet,” said Assemblywoman Downey. “When women bring home less money, it means it can be difficult to provide everyday needs of their families such as groceries, rent, and child care.”

The law prohibits an employer paying a rate in violation of the law from reducing the rate of compensation of an employee in order to comply with the legislation. It will, however, permit an employer to pay a different rate of compensation if they demonstrate that the differential is made pursuant to a seniority system or a merit system, or is based on legitimate, bona fide factors other than sex or other characteristics of members of a protected class, such as training, education, experience, or the quantity or quality of production, that each factor is applied reasonably, that one or more of the factors account for the entire wage differential, and that the factor or factors do not perpetuate a sex-based differential in compensation, are job-related and based upon legitimate business necessities.

           The measure also prohibits an employer from taking reprisals against an employee for disclosing information about job titles, occupational categories, rates of compensation, gender, race, ethnicity, military status, or national origin of employees or former employees. It also prohibits an employer from requiring any employee or prospective employee to waive their rights under the law as a condition of employment.

Finally, the law would require an employer entering into a contract with the State to provide information concerning every employee employed in connection with the contract, including information regarding the employee’s gender, race, job title, occupational category, and total compensation, and report specified significant changes in employee status during the contract.

The Commissioner of Labor and Workforce Development is required to retain and make the information available to the Division of Civil Rights and, upon request, employees and their authorized representatives.

The measure, titled the “Diane B. Allen Equal Pay Act,” is named after former New Jersey Senator Diane Allen. Senator Allen was a pioneering broadcaster in Philadelphia and Chicago who left her job in 1994 after filing three complaints alleging gender- and age-based discrimination with the Equal Opportunity Employment Commission for age and sex discrimination, noted the sponsors.

This law was also inspired by the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, which was enacted in response to a Supreme Court Case in which Ledbetter claimed pay discrimination at her place of employment where she was earning over $1,000 less than her male counterparts.