Dive Brief:

• Effective Feb. 1, New Jersey agencies and offices will be prohibited from asking job applicants for their compensation history, or investigating the prior salaries of applicants.
• The move comes via executive order — Gov. Phil Murphy's (D) first order of business taken on Jan. 16, his first day in office.
• Murphy urged the state legislature to send legislation to his desk banning the practice statewide, pledging to sign it, according to a press release from his office.

Dive Insight:

Murphy said the move is aimed at reducing the gender pay gap, the same motive behind the 12 other state and local bans.

Experts say employers can expect more of these laws in the coming months. In the short term, employers who used the question as a screening tool say they've been coping by removing the salary information requests from applications and interviews; they also have begun sharing positions' salary ranges in postings or during phone screens as a way of weeding out applicants.

In the long run, however, some say these laws may force employers to create more structured compensation plans, and some are already turning to data analysis to do just that.