Sponsored by:
Senator NILSA I. CRUZ-PEREZ
District 5 (Camden and Gloucester)
Senator SHIRLEY K. TURNER
District 15 (Hunterdon and Mercer)
SYNOPSIS
Requires transparency concerning compensation with promotional opportunities and in employment listings.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning transparency in employment listings and supplementing Title 34 of the Revised Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. a. An employer shall make reasonable efforts to announce, post, or otherwise make known all opportunities for promotion to all current employees on the same calendar day and prior to making a promotion decision. Each failure to announce, post, or otherwise make known one promotional opportunity shall constitute a separate violation of this subsection.
b. An employer shall disclose in each posting for each job opening the hourly wage or salary, or a range of the compensation, and a general description of all of the benefits and other compensation to be offered to the hired applicant. Each failure to include the information required in this subsection in a particular job posting shall constitute a separate violation of this subsection.
c. Any employer who violates this act shall be subject to a civil penalty in an amount not to exceed $1,000 for the first violation, $5,000 for the second violation and $10,000 for each subsequent violation, collectible by the Commissioner of Labor and Workforce Development in a summary proceeding pursuant to the "Penalty Enforcement Law of 1999," P.L.1999, c.274 (C.2A:58-10 et seq.).
d. Upon a violation of any provision of this act, an aggrieved person may, in addition to any other available remedy, institute civil action in a court of competent jurisdiction, within one year from the date of the alleged violation, for relief as follows:
(1) injunctive relief as it deems appropriate;
(2) compensatory damages incurred as a result of the violation; and
(3) reasonable attorneys' fees and court costs.
e. As used in this act, "employer" means any person, company, corporation, firm, labor organization, or association which has five or more employees over 20 calendar weeks and does business, employs persons, or takes applications for employment within this State, including the State, any county or municipality, or any instrumentality thereof. The term shall include job placement and referral agencies and other employment agencies.
2. This act shall take effect on the first day of the seventh month next following the date of enactment.
STATEMENT
This bill requires employers to make reasonable efforts to announce, post, or otherwise make known all opportunities for promotion to all current employees on the same calendar day and prior to making a promotion decision. Each failure to announce, post, or otherwise make known one promotional opportunity will constitute a separate violation.
The bill requires employers to disclose in each posting for each job opening the hourly wage or salary, or a range of the compensation, and a general description of all of the benefits and other compensation to be offered to the hired applicant. Each failure to include the information required in a particular job posting will constitute a separate violation.
The Commissioner of Labor and Workforce Development may enforce the provisions of the bill in a summary proceeding, and an employer who violates the bill will be subject to a civil penalty in an amount not to exceed $1,000 for the first violation, $5,000 for the second violation and $10,000 for each subsequent violation.
An aggrieved person may institute a cause of action for damages incurred from a violation of the provisions of the bill.