Key employer takeaways from recent guidance on New Jersey's EPA

When the Diane B. Allen Equal Pay Act (EPA) was signed into law by Governor Phil Murphy in 2018, employers were left with many unanswered questions about its essential provisions. On March 2, 2020, the New Jersey Division on Civil Rights (DCR) issued guidance on the EPA to help fill in the blanks for employers. Here are our key takeaways from the new guidance.

Equal pay for substantially similar work required

Passed as an amendment to the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination (NJLAD), the EPA requires New Jersey employers to offer equal pay to employees who perform substantially similar work and prohibits discrimination in pay and benefits based on race, creed, color, national origin, ancestry, age, marital status, civil union status, domestic partnership status, affectional or sexual orientation, genetic information, pregnancy or breastfeeding, sex, gender identity or expression, disability or atypical hereditary cellular or blood trait, service in the U.S. armed forces, or nationality or for refusing to "submit to a genetic test or make available the results of a genetic test." ll of those traits are protected categories under the NJLAD.