On behalf of New Jersey’s business community, comprised of thousands of businesses across our great state of New Jersey, the New Jersey Business & Industry Association (NJBIA) appreciates the opportunity to provide comments on S-2136. We appreciate Senator Moriarty’s continued willingness over the last two legislative sessions to engage stakeholders and make meaningful improvements to the legislation in response to concerns raised by New Jersey employers, but NJBIA still respectfully seeks further amendments based on member concerns.
NJBIA appreciates both the improvements made to the bill last session and the additional revisions shared with us earlier this year that we understand may be in the bill up in committee today. We especially support the inclusion of language clarifying that seasonal jobs and anticipated vacancies are distinct exceptions under the bill. We believe that resolves many of the concerns employers previously raised regarding legitimate workforce planning and hiring practices.
We also appreciate the removal of the overly broad provision requiring disclosure of “any other information relating to the position as deemed appropriate by the Commissioner of Labor and Workforce Development.” Eliminating that language provides greater clarity and predictability for employers. Additionally, NJBIA appreciates the inclusion of “reasonable efforts to notify” language, which better recognizes the realities of modern hiring systems and communication practices.
Despite these improvements, NJBIA still has several concerns that we respectfully hope can be addressed either during this Senate Labor Committee hearing or at a future committee.
First, NJBIA remains concerned that Section C of the bill is overly prescriptive. While we appreciate the intent behind the provision, we do not believe state law should dictate interview etiquette. Employers already operate in a highly competitive labor market where maintaining strong communication with applicants is generally in their own best interests, but they should be permitted to do so in a manner that makes sense for their firm, industry and unique situation.
Second, NJBIA continues to have concerns regarding the bill’s excessive penalty structure. Because online job postings are often syndicated automatically across multiple third-party websites — frequently outside the direct control of the employer — the proposed $600 penalties could accumulate very rapidly and disproportionately. For example, a single posting replicated across multiple online platforms over several weeks could potentially result in tens of thousands of dollars in fines for what may effectively be one posting issue. To address this concern, NJBIA respectfully suggests that penalties be capped in a manner that recognizes the realities of online job distribution systems. One possible approach would be clarifying that the $600 penalty applies per week of posting activity, regardless of the number of third-party websites on which the posting may appear outside the employer’s direct control.
NJBIA also respectfully requests that the bill’s effective date be extended to allow employers and their human resources departments adequate time to revise job posting systems, internal policies, and hiring practices to comply with any new requirements established under the legislation.
Lastly, while NJBIA appreciates the overall intent of the bill and Senator Moriarty’s efforts to find compromise and better balance, we remain concerned that the legislation does not fully address the intended target: true “ghost postings” that are not connected to actual job opportunities. As currently drafted, the bill focuses primarily on imposing new procedural requirements and penalties on employers with legitimate openings, rather than directly prohibiting or targeting postings for jobs that do not actually exist. NJBIA would be much more supportive of legislation that focused squarely on prohibiting knowingly false job postings that are not tied to actual employment opportunities, while avoiding unnecessary burdens on employers engaged in legitimate hiring activity.
We appreciate Senator Moriarty’s continued collaboration and willingness to improve the bill, and we look forward to continuing to work with the sponsors in the Senate and Assembly, as well as this committee, to address these remaining concerns. Thank you for your consideration.
