Especially in this economic climate, you may be struggling to make ends meet with your current wages. So you may feel all the more frustrated and cheated if you soon realize that your counterparts are making significantly greater earnings than you, for no apparent reason or explanation. You may find this situation so serious or alarming that you strongly consider raising a legal claim against your employer. Well, if this is your current state of mind, please read on to discover whether you can file a claim for wage discrimination and how a seasoned Gloucester County wage and hour lawyer at The Vigilante Law Firm, P.C. can help you in doing so.
Can I file a claim for wage discrimination in New Jersey?
In 2018, Governor Phil Murphy signed the New Jersey Diane B. Allen Equal Pay Act (EPA). Essentially, this Act protects employees from instances of wage discrimination.
Specifically, under the guidelines of the New Jersey Division of Civil Rights, the EPA holds that it is illegal for employers to participate in discriminatory pay practices. Plus, employers cannot retaliate against employees who report witnessing or experiencing such discriminatory pay practices. Such retaliation efforts may entail demoting an employee and subsequently paying them even less; revoking an employee’s employment benefits to which they are entitled by contract; terminating an employee altogether; or otherwise.
Therefore, to file a claim for wage discrimination by citing the EPA, you may only need to demonstrate that you were paid less than another employee doing substantially similar work. Importantly, the comparison should not be drawn between your and another employee’s job titles but rather what job functions you are charged with.
Your claim may be further solidified if you are part of a certain protected class (i.e., age, race, gender, etc). This is because the EPA may overlap with the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination (NJLAD). This law prohibits employers from discriminating against employees who are in such a protected class, such as through discrimination in compensation.
What is the statute of limitations for my wage discrimination claim?
Per the EPA, you may be allotted six years to bring forward a claim regarding discriminatory unequal pay against your negligent New Jersey employer.
If successful, you may be awarded back pay of up to six years, starting from the date you last receive such discriminatory pay. What’s more, you may also recover treble damages, otherwise three times your economic losses from such discrimination. This is to discourage your negligent New Jersey employer from participating in such discriminatory pay practices ever again.
As an employee exploring your legal options, there is no one better you can turn to than a competent employment discrimination attorney in Gloucester County, NJ from our firm. So please, call us at The Vigilante Law Firm, P.C. as soon as possible.
