A1161 1R

An Act concerning job postings and supplementing Title 34 of the Revised Statutes.

Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:

1. a. An employer ¹or third-party job posting company¹ who publicly advertises a job posting shall include in the posting:

(1) a statement disclosing whether the posting is for an existing vacancy or not, and if the posting is for an existing vacancy, an estimated timeframe of when the position will be filled ¹, or, if the posting is not for an existing vacancy, a disclaimer that the employer is accepting applications for an anticipated vacancy, provided that the posting and disclaimer shall not be permitted unless the employer has, within the preceding 18 months, listed the same position not less than three times or hired not less than four employees for similar roles, and provided further that the posting and disclaimer shall expire after 120 days and the posting shall be removed, except as provided in paragraph (2) of this subsection¹; ¹[and] or¹

(2) ¹[any other information relating to the position as deemed appropriate by the Commissioner of Labor and Workforce Development] if the posting is for a seasonal position, a statement disclosing the anticipated employment season or period of employment and a disclaimer that the position is seasonal in nature¹.

b. ¹For job postings that are for existing job vacancies, employers and third-party job posting companies shall comply with the following requirements:¹

(1) When a position for which an employer has publicly advertised has been filled, the employer shall remove any posting or advertisement made by the employer within two weeks of the position having been filled ¹or within 30 days of the original posting, whichever is later¹. If the employer is aware or should reasonably be aware that a third-party job posting ¹[entity] company¹ posted the position independently of the employer, the employer shall ¹make reasonable efforts to¹ notify the third-party ¹[entity] company, using publicly available contact information or through an existing business relationship,¹that the position has been filled.

(2) If a third-party job posting ¹[entity] company¹ knows or has reason to know that a post for a particular position has been filled or has otherwise expired, the third-party job posting ¹[entity] company¹ shall remove the post within two weeks of the date it knows or has reason to know of the position being filled ¹or within 30 days of the original posting, whichever is later¹.

c. If an employer ¹[interviews] conducts an interview with¹ an applicant for a publicly advertised job posting ¹for an existing job vacancy¹, the employer shall, within the timeframe provided in the job advertisement, provide the applicant with an affirmative response as to whether the position has been filled, or if the position has not been filled, whether the employer is still considering the applicant for the position. If the employer notifies the applicant that the applicant is still in consideration for the position, the employer shall provide the applicant with an estimated timeframe of when the employer will make a final decision as to the position.

d. The Department of Labor and Workforce Development shall have the authority to conduct audits of employer and third-party job posting ¹[entity] company¹ practices to determine ongoing violations of this act. Any person aggrieved by a violation of this act may report the violation to the department.

e. Any ¹[person] employer or third-party job posting company¹ violating any of the provisions of this act shall:

(1) receive a warning from the Commissioner of Labor and Workforce Development, in a manner and form as prescribed by the commissioner, to rectify the violation within seven business days; and

(2) if the person does not rectify the violation within seven business days be liable to a penalty of not ¹[less]more¹ than ¹[$1,000 nor] $300for a first offense, and not¹ more than ¹[$5,000] $600 for a subsequent offense,¹ to be collected in a civil action by a summary proceeding under the "Penalty Enforcement Law of 1999," P.L.1999, c.274 (C.2A:58-10 et seq.). Following the warning in paragraph (1) of this subsection, each month that a job advertisement is posted in violation of this act shall constitute a separate and distinct violation, except during the time an appeal from the summary proceeding may be taken or is pending.

f. The commissioner shall adopt and promulgate, pursuant to the "Administrative Procedure Act," P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.), rules and regulations as may be necessary to effectuate the purposes of this act.

g. ¹For the purposes of this section, a position shall be regarded as filled on the first day that a selected candidate begins the performance of job duties under the terms of employment.

h.¹ As used in this act:

“Employer” means a person engaged in business in the State, including the State and any political subdivision or other instrumentality of the State, who employs more than 10 employees.

¹“Interview” means a formal or informal meeting or conversation between an employer or representative of the employer and a job applicant that is conducted with the intention of assessing the candidate’s qualifications, skill, or suitability for a specific position, provided that “interview” does not include preliminary screenings or assessments of information about a job applicant, including information submitted by the applicant, which is conducted by human resources personnel or other representatives of the employer solely to verify basic qualifications or interest in the position or to determine whether to interview the applicant.¹

“Third-party job posting ¹[entity] company¹” means a person or entity that is not the employer for which a job is posted that posts multiple job vacancies or listings on behalf of employers or independently of employers for job seekers to search and apply to job postings on one platform.

2. This act shall take effect immediately.