Effective January 1, 2020, private employers in New Jersey are prohibited from asking job applicants about their salary, wage, and benefit history and are not permitted to make hiring decisions based on that information. Employers will also be prohibited from requiring that an applicant's salary history satisfy certain minimum or maximum requirements.
There are notable exceptions to this prohibition, which include the following:
- If an applicant "voluntarily, without employer prompting or coercion," discloses salary or wage information, the employer may verify whether the information was accurate and use the information to determine compensation to be paid to the applicant;
- An employee is applying for internal transfer or promotion with a current employer;
- Actions taken by an employer pursuant to a federal law or regulation that expressly requires the disclosure or verification of salary history for employment purposes; and
- After an offer of employment has been made that includes an explanation of the overall compensation package, an employer may confirm an applicant's salary history upon the applicant's written authorization.
Employers who violate the law can be fined up to $1,000 for a first offense, $5,000 for a second offense, and $10,000 for violations thereafter.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
