As 2016 comes to a close, we remind New Jersey employers to take note of the state’s minimum wage increase, effective January 1, 2017, and to tend to some notice and poster housekeeping. 

First, effective January 1, 2017, New Jersey’s minimum wage will increase from $8.38 per hour to $8.44 per hour. This adjustment, based upon an increase in the Consumer Price Index for urban wage earners and clerical workers, was mandated by state law. 

Second, to reflect the increased minimum wage, the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development (NJDOL) updated its New Jersey State Wage and Hour Law Abstract poster. The new poster can be found in the Employer Poster Packet on the NJDOL website. It should be posted in all New Jersey workplaces by January 1, 2017.

Third and finally, New Jersey employers are reminded of their annual notice requirements:

• New Jersey employers must distribute to each employee working in New Jersey a written copy of the Gender Equity Notice on or before December 31 each year, and must obtain a signed acknowledgement from each employee in writing or by means of electronic verification. The required notices (in both English and Spanish), accompanied by sample acknowledgements, can be found in the NJDOL’s Employer Poster Packet.

• New Jersey employers with 10 or more employees must annually distribute to their New Jersey employees the required notice under the Conscientious Employee Protection Act (CEPA). The Employer Poster Packet contains English and Spanish versions of this notice as well. Employers must insert the appropriate contact information prior to distributing the notice to employees and posting it in the workplace. The notice may be distributed in hard copy or electronic format. 

• Simply having a poster or a policy in a handbook does not satisfy an employer’s notice obligation under CEPA. But unlike the Gender Equity Notice, employers are not required to obtain from employees an acknowledgement of receipt of the CEPA notice. Employers may still wish to obtain acknowledgements for the CEPA notice too, in order to rebut any future claim that an employee did not receive the notice.