$1,000 – $5,000 Fines For Banning Unemployed Individuals In NJ From Applying For A Job

not hiringLegislation sponsored by Assembly Democrats Peter J. Barnes III, Elease Evans and Celeste Riley to make it illegal for employers to ask out-of-work New Jerseyans not to apply for job vacancies has been re-approved by the Assembly. The bill was approved by the Legislature late last year, but the governor conditionally vetoed, requesting some minor changes.

The revamped legislation (A-3359) prohibits an employer from publishing an advertisement for a job that announces that unemployed individuals cannot apply for the job vacancy.

“We’ve seen a lot of tough things during this recession, but this trend of purposefully bypassing unemployed people when looking to fill job openings is inexplicable,” said Barnes (D-Middlesex). “I see no reason for this practice that, when you think about, only helps perpetuate a high unemployment rate. It’s unfair and it must stop.”

“Telling unemployed people they cannot apply for a job is un-American,” said Evans (D-Passaic/Bergen). “A person should be judged on their ability to do the work, not on whether they had the terrible misfortune of being laid-off. These ads cannot be allowed to continue.”

“This bill is very simply the right thing to do for thousands of New Jerseyans who, through no fault of their own, found themselves without a job in recent years,” said Riley (D-Cumberland/Gloucester/Salem). “Judging a person by whether they have a job is not the way to fill job vacancies. I want to see everyone judged on their skills and ability to do the job.”

The bill would authorize a $1,000 penalty for the first offense and $5,000 penalties for subsequent offenses.

The Assembly voted 72-5 on Thursday to approve the revised bill. It now heads to the Senate. TLS.

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6 COMMENTS

  1. its to bad that a law even has to be ennacted for this , once again discrimination rears its ugly head and legislation is needed to protect the rights of people. While a business has a right to hire the “right qualified person” for a position , it should not be able to ban someone just based on the fact he/she is currently unemployed

  2. As someone who is currently looking for a permanent job, I actually don’t agree with this law.If someone doesn’t want to hire an unemployed person he won’t do it anyhow.Why waste time applying?I was told to hide anything on my resume that indicates I’m Jewish.I didn’t.If someone doesn’t want to hire to hire me because Jewish, I’m not wasting the time to have him find out by the interview anyhow.

  3. To # 2
    In this day & age to not hire someone based on their religion is really disgusting . Its a shame that you would accept that type of treatment

  4. It’s reality, we’re nothing if not pragmatic.

    Regarding the law, I don’t understand why an employer would care if a person is unemployed or not. Can someone enlighten me?

    Thank you.

  5. By excluding unemployed people they are automatically excluding irresponsible lazy people. I’m not saying that most unemployed are lazy, but rather most lazy people are unemployed.

  6. Who is the government to tell businesses whom to hire? If someone wants to discriminate against the unemployed, that’s their problem and their right. It’s their business. Get the governments nose out of everyone’s business! Its a free country as long as you don’t infringe on someone’s property.

    Why does everyone in this country think that they have a “right” to work wherever they choose? This mentality is destroying our nation. People are forever demanding their “rights”. Why does everyone have a “right” to health care anymore than they have a “right” to steal my money? People on welfare believe they have a “right” to it.

    Well, guess what? I’ll tell you about the rights that the founding fathers envisioned. We the people have a right to a government that protects our freedom and property. If our government fails to do so and distributes our wealth, then we have a right to overthrow the government.

Comments are closed.