By: Mark J. Semeraro, Esq., November 3, 2025
New Jersey now requires most employers to show their cards on pay. If you post for a new role or advertise a promotion, you’ll likely need to disclose the pay range and a general description of benefits, plus make reasonable efforts to alert current employees to promotional opportunities.
At-a-Glance
• What it is: New Jersey’s Pay & Benefits Transparency law, codified at N.J.S.A. 34:6B-23.
• Effective date: June 1, 2025
• Who’s covered: Employers with 10+ employees over 20 calendar weeks that do business, employ people, or take applications in New Jersey.
• Core requirement: Each external or internal job posting for a new job or transfer must list the wage/salary (or range) and a general description of benefits and other compensation; you must also notify current employees about promotional opportunities.
• Penalties: Up to $300 for a first violation and up to $600 for each subsequent violation, enforced by the N.J. Department of Labor and Workforce Development (NJDOL). One non-compliant posting equals one violation, even if it appears on multiple platforms.
What New Jersey law requires
• Pay & benefits in postings: When you advertise a role (external or internal) for a new job or transfer, include either a number or a range and a general benefits description (e.g., health, retirement, PTO, bonuses/commissions eligibility).
• Promotion notices: Make reasonable efforts to announce promotional opportunities to current employees before deciding, except when the promotion is awarded based on years of experience (seniority) or performance, or if there’s an emergent need.
• Who exactly is in scope: The law reaches many multi-state employers if they do business in NJ or accept NJ applications, even if no employee physically works in NJ.
• Temp/consulting firms: For “pipeline” ads seeking applicants for future temporary openings, firms don’t need to post pay/benefits in the ad, but must provide them at interview or hire for a specific opening.
Penalties and Enforcement
• Civil penalties are administrative and collected by NJDOL: up to $300 (first) / $600 (subsequent). The statute clarifies how violations are counted (e.g., a single posting across multiple sites = one violation).
Why New Jersey Did This (History and Purpose)
• New Jersey has steadily moved toward pay equity and transparency, from banning salary-history inquiries (effective Jan. 1, 2020, N.J.S.A. 34:6B-20) to this 2025 transparency step. The policy goal is to reduce pay gaps by giving applicants and employees clearer information and a fairer shot at promotions.
Five Fast Compliance Moves:
1. Standardize ranges: Establish defensible salary bands and benefits summaries you can drop into postings.
2. Tune your Applicant Tracking System (ATS) & templates: Update job ad templates and your ATS fields to require pay/benefits entries.
3. Promotion alerts: Create a simple internal notice process (email, intranet, bulletin) to satisfy the “reasonable efforts” standard.
4. Multi-state check: If you recruit nationally, assume NJ rules apply when doing business or accepting applications in NJ; set a default compliant template.
5. Document decisions: Keep records of ranges used, benefits descriptions, and internal notices in case of an NJDOL inquiry.
If you post jobs or promote from within in New Jersey, you likely need to include pay ranges and benefits and alert employees to promotions. A short policy update and template refresh can get you compliant quickly. If you’d like help auditing your postings or drafting compliant pay ranges and notices, Semeraro & Fahrney, LLC can help. Request a free consultation today.
Contact | info@semerarolaw.com | (973) 988-5070
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Attorney Advertising. For informational purposes only; not legal advice. Reading this article does not create an attorney-client relationship. Past results do not guarantee a similar outcome.
Written by Semeraro & Fahrney, LLC, Wayne, NJ. Last updated September 2025.
