Jersey City pay transparency ordinance for employers (2026): Code 148-4.1 and the state law

Jersey City, New Jersey, requires pay and benefits in job ads. Municipal Code section 148-4.1, added by Ordinance 22-026 and rewritten by Ordinance 22-045 in June 2022, requires an employer, employment agency or agent within Jersey City that advertises a Jersey City employer's job, transfer or promotion, temporary or permanent, to include a minimum and maximum annual salary or hourly wage and the benefits offered. It applies to employers with five or more people in their employ in the city, counting independent contractors, and the city gives the fine as up to $2,000. As of November 2026 it still applies alongside New Jersey's statewide Pay and Benefit Transparency Act, which has no clause preempting local ordinances.

Where is Jersey City's pay transparency law?

It is section 148-4.1, "Pay transparency," in Chapter 148 (Discrimination) of the Jersey City Municipal Code, published on Municode. Two ordinances made it:

• Ordinance 22-026 was introduced March 9, 2022, adopted on final reading March 23, 2022 by an 8-0 vote, and approved by the mayor on March 24, 2022.
• Ordinance 22-045, "An ordinance amending the 'Pay Transparency' Regulation located in Chapter 148 (Discrimination)," was introduced May 25, 2022, adopted June 15, 2022, and approved June 16, 2022.

The codified section, in a code updated through ordinances passed February 11, 2026, carries the 22-045 wording. The city launched an education and enforcement campaign for the ordinance on April 3, 2023, according to its March 31, 2023 announcement.

What did Ordinance 22-045 change?

The March 2022 version covered "an employer, with their principal place of business within the City of Jersey City" that used "print or digital media circulating within the City," and exempted employers with "four (4) or less employees." The June amendment:

• added employment agencies and agents of an employer to the people who must comply;
• replaced the media test with any employer that "advertises by any means" to give notice of employment opportunities, transfers or promotions for the Jersey City employer;
• made clear the rule covers roles "whether such employment, promotion or transfer is temporary or permanent";
• asked for a minimum and maximum annual salary and/or hourly wage; and
• replaced the size exemption with a definition: an employer that "has five (5) or more persons in their employ within Jersey City on the date of the notice or advertisement," with independent contractors working in furtherance of the business counted as employees.

Who is covered?

• Employers with five or more people in Jersey City on the date of the ad, counting contractors. People who work for the company elsewhere do not count toward the five.
• Employment agencies and agents of an employer within the city that advertise the Jersey City employer's roles.
• Temporary and permanent roles alike. Unlike the state Act, the ordinance has no carve-out for temporary help service firms.

The city's page sums it up: employers "with 5 or more employees - whether those employees are on staff or independent contractors - must inform job seekers of pay and benefits in all job postings - print or digital."

What must a Jersey City job posting include?

1. A minimum and a maximum annual salary and/or hourly wage. The range "may extend from the lowest to the highest salary the employer in good faith believes at the time of the posting it would pay." The city's page describes it as the "minimum and maximum base salary or hourly wage."
2. The benefits being offered. The ordinance requires "benefits" in the posting; it does not define the term, so list the actual plans rather than "great benefits."
3. The same content on transfers and promotions, not only outside hiring.

The section also restates New Jersey's salary history rule, N.J.S.A. 34:6B-20, which it says is "punishable through State law" rather than by the city; that rule is covered in our New Jersey salary history ban guide.

How is the ordinance enforced?

Violations "may be reported to the City's Office of Code Compliance (OCC) or to the Women's Advisory Board for referral to the OCC for possible prosecution under Chapter 1 of this Code, General Provisions § 1-25," the code's general penalty section. The city's page and its 2023 announcement both give the penalty as a fine of up to $2,000, and list the Women's Advisory Board, SeeClickFix and the Resident Response Center (201-547-4900) for reports. The ordinance text provides no private lawsuit and no cure period.

How does it sit with New Jersey's Pay and Benefit Transparency Act?

The state Act, P.L.2024, c.91 (N.J.S.A. 34:6B-23), has been in effect since June 1, 2025, and is summarized in our New Jersey pay transparency guide. Its text has no preemption clause, unlike New Jersey's ban-the-box law, which says expressly that it preempts local ordinances on criminal history in employment. So, on the face of the statutes, a Jersey City ad has to meet both:

The city is stricter for employers with five to nine people in Jersey City, for contractor-heavy teams, and for staffing firms that would use the state's temp-firm rule. The state is stricter on content, because it adds "other compensation programs" such as commissions and bonuses, and on internal promotion notice. The Department of Labor's proposed rules, N.J.A.C. 12:74, were still unadopted on its pay transparency page as of November 2026, and the Department describes them as non-binding but instructive.

What should recruiters and staffing agencies do for Jersey City roles?

1. Count the client's Jersey City people, contractors included, on the day the ad will run. Five is the trigger.
2. Post pay and benefits on every Jersey City ad the agency runs, temporary assignments included. The state's temp-firm timing rule does not help in Jersey City.
3. Write one ad that meets both laws: a minimum and maximum, a real benefits list, and any commission or bonus plan named.
4. Cover internal moves. Put the range and benefits on transfer and promotion notices for Jersey City roles.
5. Keep the agency itself in order. New Jersey's agency licensing and registration rules are in staffing agency license in New Jersey, and multistate agency duties in pay transparency for staffing agencies.

Recruiters who also fill Manhattan or Brooklyn roles for the same client should check the New York City salary transparency law, which wants only base pay but covers employment agencies of any size. Other New Jersey hiring rules are in hiring employees in New Jersey.

A copy-ready Jersey City pay and benefits block

PAY AND BENEFITS BLOCK FOR A JERSEY CITY AD (example figures; replace them)
Pay: $26.00 to $33.00 per hour ($54,080 to $68,640 a year at 40
hours a week). This is the range we in good faith believe we would
pay for this role at the time of posting.

Benefits: medical, dental and vision coverage; paid sick leave and
paid vacation; 401(k) with employer match; commuter benefit.

Other compensation: quarterly performance bonus of up to 5% of
base pay.

INTAKE NOTE
People employed in Jersey City on the posting date, including
contractors: ____ (five or more: city rule applies)
Employees everywhere over 20 calendar weeks: ____ (ten or more:
state Act applies)

Jersey City pay transparency rules at a glance