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New Jersey pay transparency law: the salary range and job posting rules

Since June 1, 2025, New Jersey employers with 10 or more employees must publish the hourly wage or salary, or a range, in every posting for a new job or a transfer, plus a general description of the benefits on offer. The headcount that triggers the law is counted nationwide, and a separate rule makes you announce promotion opportunities to your own staff before you decide.

This page covers who is actually covered, what a compliant New Jersey posting has to contain, the promotion notice nobody expects, the real penalty numbers, and how to build a posted range you can defend. Build one below in about a minute.

Last updated July 2026 / General information, not legal advice

Pay band builder Sample data
02 · Market
03 · Seniority
04 · Company stage
No. / At a glance / 01

New Jersey pay transparency, in one table

Obligation Who it covers What you must do Exposure
Pay in job postings 10 or more employees, counted nationwide Publish the hourly wage or salary, or a range, in every internal and external posting for a new job or transfer. Up to $300 first, up to $600 after
Benefits description Same employers Include a general description of benefits and other compensation programs the hire would be eligible for. Same penalty ladder
Promotion notice Same employers Make reasonable efforts to announce a promotion opportunity to all current employees in the affected department before deciding. Same penalty ladder
Staffing and placement firms Agencies, recruiters, temp help and consulting firms Agencies posting for a client follow the same rules. Temp and consulting firms building a candidate pool disclose at interview or hire instead. Same penalty ladder

Source: the New Jersey Pay and Benefit Transparency Act, S2310, P.L. 2024 c. 91, codified at N.J.S.A. 34:6B-23, and the guidance published by the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development. Summarized here for planning, not as legal advice.

No. / What it says / 02

The three details that catch employers out

01

The 10 employees are counted nationwide

This is the single most misread part of the law. The threshold is 10 or more employees over at least 20 calendar weeks, and the state counts every employee, inside or outside New Jersey. A Texas company with one New Jersey remote hire and nine people in Austin is covered. Massachusetts works the opposite way and counts only in-state staff, so multi-state employers get this backwards constantly.

02

Benefits are a separate mandatory element

Most posting states stop at pay. New Jersey does not. A compliant ad carries the wage or range and a general description of the benefits and other compensation programs, which the state reads to include health, life and disability coverage, paid time off, retirement, bonuses, commissions and profit sharing. A posting with a perfect salary range and no benefits line is still a violation.

03

You must tell your own team about promotions

Before a promotion decision, you have to make reasonable efforts to announce the opportunity to every current employee in the affected department. The state treats a conspicuous workplace posting or an intranet notice as reasonable. Promotions based on years of experience or performance are excepted, as are promotions made on an emergent basis after an unforeseen event.

Two definitions do a lot of work here. A promotion is a change in job title that comes with more compensation. A transfer is a title change without a pay increase, and transfer opportunities have to be posted with pay just like new roles. If you move someone sideways and quietly advertise the seat, that advertisement needs a range.

No. / Exposure / 03

What a violation actually costs in New Jersey

The penalty numbers circulating online are usually wrong. Plenty of articles, including some written from an early draft of the bill, still quote $1,000 for a first violation and $5,000 or $10,000 after. The enacted law is far smaller: a civil penalty of up to $300 for a first violation and up to $600 for each subsequent one, assessed by the Commissioner of Labor and Workforce Development.

How violations are counted

One posting pushed to your careers page, LinkedIn and three job boards is a single violation, not five. Each separate job opening, though, counts on its own. So the real exposure scales with how many roles you advertise non-compliantly, not with how many channels you use. An employer running 30 open roles with no benefits line is looking at 30 counts, not one.

Nobody can sue you over it

There is no private right of action in the New Jersey statute. Applicants and employees cannot bring their own claim for a posting violation; the Department of Labor is the exclusive enforcer. That is a meaningful contrast with Washington State, where private plaintiffs and fee awards have made posting violations genuinely expensive.

Small per-violation numbers do not mean the law is dormant. In March 2026 the Department ran its first affirmative enforcement sweep, one driven by its own review rather than worker complaints, and brought 42 large New Jersey employers into compliance through assurances of voluntary compliance with penalties waived. The message in that action was that the agency is auditing postings on its own initiative, and that the cheap way to resolve it is to already be compliant.

No. / Pending / 04

The proposed rules, and the 60 percent range cap

In September 2025 the Department published proposed rules at N.J.A.C. 12:74 and took comments through November 2025. As of July 2026 those rules have not been adopted. They are not binding, and any page telling you the items below are the law is ahead of the facts. They are still worth planning around, because they show how the agency reads its own statute.

Proposed rule What it would mean Status
60 percent range spread cap The maximum could be no more than 60 percent above the minimum. A $100,000 to $160,000 range passes. A $100,000 to $200,000 range does not. Proposed only
No open-ended ranges Phrasing such as "up to" or "and up" would be prohibited, so a range needs a real floor and a real ceiling. Proposed only
Benefits definition Spells out what the general benefits description has to cover, and confirms the promotion exceptions for experience, performance and emergent situations. Proposed only

The 60 percent cap is the one to design around now, because it is cheap to comply with early and expensive to retrofit. A band whose maximum sits 60 percent above its minimum is roughly a 60 percent range spread, which is already wider than most companies use for anything below the executive level. If your posted ranges are within normal market width you are almost certainly fine. If you have been posting $90,000 to $220,000 to keep your options open, that habit is the one at risk. Our guide to how wide a salary range should be walks through the spread standards by job level.

No. / Method / 05

How to build a New Jersey posting you can defend

New Jersey does not use a good faith standard the way Massachusetts and Colorado do, so the test is more mechanical: does the posting contain the required elements, and is the range a real one. That makes compliance a process problem rather than a judgment call, and process problems are fixable in an afternoon.

  1. Step 01

    Benchmark the role against market percentiles

    Start from percentile wage data for the occupation and the metro you hire in, not from a competitor's ad. Public BLS OES data gives you P25, P50 and P75 for the New Jersey metros and the New York and Philadelphia areas that most New Jersey employers actually compete against for talent.

  2. Step 02

    Set the internal band, then post a slice of it

    Build the internal band first, then publish the portion you would genuinely pay a new hire. The internal band can run wider than the posted range. Keeping the posted slice tight also keeps you clear of the proposed 60 percent cap without having to revisit anything later.

  3. Step 03

    Write the benefits block once and reuse it

    The benefits description is general, not personalized, so one well-drafted paragraph covering insurance, paid time off, retirement and any bonus or commission plan can sit in your posting template permanently. This is the element employers forget, and it is the easiest one to never fail again.

  4. Step 04

    Add a promotion announcement step to your process

    Put a required internal announcement in front of every promotion decision, with a record of where it was posted and when. Note the experience, performance and emergency exceptions in the same policy so managers know when they apply rather than guessing.

Do it now

Wagelist turns a role, a market, a seniority level and a company stage into a P25/P50/P75 band and a posting-ready range built on public U.S. BLS wage data, with the methodology attached. Use the builder at the top of this page, or read the full method behind salary bands.

See how posted ranges work
No. / Context / 06

How New Jersey compares to the other posting states

New Jersey sits in the middle on headcount but near the top on what a posting must contain, and it is one of only two states in this table that make you describe benefits. If you hire across state lines, the strictest rule you touch sets the floor for your template.

State Employer threshold Headcount counted Benefits disclosure? Employees can sue?
New Jersey 10 or more Nationwide Yes, general description No
Massachusetts 25 or more In-state only No No
New York 4 or more Broad, role tied to NY No, but job description if one exists Not for postings
Colorado Any employer with a Colorado role One employee is enough Yes, general benefits description No, for postings
Washington 15 or more Global, if one WA employee Yes, general description Yes, private plaintiffs

The practical answer for a multi-state employer is one national band per role and level with a documented geographic multiplier, so every posted range comes out of the same structure and the template already carries a benefits block. The full breakdown lives in our guide to pay transparency laws by state, and the mechanics of adjusting one band across metros are in geographic pay differentials.

No. / FAQ / 07

New Jersey pay transparency questions

Does New Jersey require salary ranges in job postings?

Yes. Since June 1, 2025, covered employers must include the hourly wage or salary, or a range of either, in every posting for a new job or transfer opportunity, internal or external. A single fixed rate is compliant; a range is not mandatory. The posting must also carry a general description of benefits and other compensation.

How many employees does the New Jersey law apply to?

Ten or more employees over at least 20 calendar weeks, for employers that do business, employ people or take applications in New Jersey. The count runs nationwide rather than in-state, so one New Jersey employee plus nine elsewhere puts you inside the law.

What is the penalty for violating the law?

Up to $300 for a first violation and up to $600 for each subsequent violation, assessed by the Department of Labor and Workforce Development. One posting spread across several platforms is one violation, while each separate opening counts separately. Ignore the $1,000 and $5,000 figures still repeated online; they come from an earlier draft.

Do New Jersey job postings have to list benefits?

Yes, and this is the requirement employers miss most. A posting needs a general description of the benefits and other compensation programs the hire would be eligible for, covering things like health, life and disability insurance, paid time off, retirement, bonuses, commissions and profit sharing.

Does the law apply to promotions?

Yes, in two ways. Postings for transfer opportunities need pay and benefits like any other posting, and before a promotion decision you must make reasonable efforts to announce the opportunity to current employees in the affected department. Promotions based on experience or performance, and emergent promotions after an unforeseen event, are excepted.

Does it apply to out of state and remote employers?

It can. The law reaches employers doing business, employing people or taking applications in New Jersey, and it does not require employees to be physically in the state. An out of state company with one New Jersey remote worker, or one accepting applications from New Jersey residents, can be covered.

No. / Related / 08

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