(TRENTON) – Legislation sponsored by Assembly Democrats Pamela Lampitt and Joann Downey to promote equal pay for women was advanced out of the Assembly Appropriations Committee on Thursday.
“Women in every state and in nearly every occupation experience the gender pay gap,” said Lampitt (D-Burlington/Camden). “Over their lifetime, this can have a significant impact on their financial security. Though the gap is gradually closing, it’s doing so far too slowly and many women still do not receive commensurate compensation for their work. Stricter measures to ensure parity in the workplace are clearly needed.”
The bill (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 bill 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 Downey (D-Monmouth). “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.”
A woman working full time, year-round earns $10,800 less per year than a man, said the sponsors. This disparity can add up to nearly half a million dollars over a career. In this aggregate, women are paid less than $4 for every $5 paid to men.
The bill 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 bill 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 Dianne 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.
Before being advanced by the Assembly Appropriations Committee on Thursday, this bill was voted out of the Assembly Labor Committee.