Unequal Pay
New Jersey has perhaps the strongest law in the country protecting employees against unequal pay. At Schroll Law, LLC, I have successfully represented several employees who were paid less than their coworkers.
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Equal Pay Act
In 2018, New Jersey passed the Diane B. Allen Equal Pay Act (EPA) to expand the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination (LAD) for the purpose of eliminating pay disparities suffered by protected classes. This law prohibits an employer from paying an employee who is a member of a LAD-protected class less than what it pays an employee who is not a member of that LAD-protected class for substantially similar work. Importantly, the EPA is not limited to sex or gender, and applies to unequal pay harming any protected characteristics, including, sex, race, age, disability, and several other protected classes.
3 Elements Of An Equal Pay Claim
To prevail on and unequal pay claim, and employee must prove three elements – (i) membership in a protected class, (ii) the employer employed someone not in the protected class doing substantially similar work, and (iii) the employer paid that person(s) more than the claimant. See N.J.S.A. § 10:5-12(t). Often, the most controversial element is whether the employee does “substantially similar work” as the comparable coworkers. Significantly, discriminatory “intent” is not required under the EPA. The purpose of the law is to eliminate “wage gaps” that have long existed, whether intended or not.
3 Employer Defenses
Under the EPA, there are three affirmative defenses that an employer may assert when it pays a member of a protected class less than an employee outside the protected class. Those defenses are (i) a seniority system, (ii) a merit system, or the (iii) “legitimate, non-discriminatory factor” affirmative defense. If the employee meets their burden of proof and the employer cannot establish one of these defenses, the employee may be entitled to significant damages including trebled (tripled) damages for their lost pay.