As anticipated, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy has signed into law the Diane B. Allen Pay Equity Act (the “Act”). The Act will take effect on July 1, 2018, giving employers approximately two months to review their policies to ensure compliance.
As we previously reported, the Act will, among other things, make it an unlawful employment practice to pay employees of any protected class under the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination (“LAD”) at a lesser rate than other employees who perform “substantially similar work” unless the differential is based on a legitimate business reason. The Act also will extend the LAD’s statute of limitations period for compensation-related claims from 2 years to 6 years, and expand the definition of retaliation under the LAD to include protections for employees who request, discuss, or disclose information regarding job title, occupational category, rate of compensation, and/or the protected class(es) of the employee him- or herself or any other current or former employee of their employer.
We will continue to report on any further developments regarding the Act and its implementation.