Read the full stored bill text
A2017
ASSEMBLY, No. 2017
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
222nd LEGISLATURE
�
PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2026 SESSION
Sponsored by:
Assemblywoman SHAMA A. HAIDER
District 37 (Bergen)
SYNOPSIS
���� Prohibits employers from inquiring about gender of
job applicants under certain circumstances.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
���� Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative
Counsel.
��
An Act
prohibiting employers from inquiring about job
applicant�s gender and supplementing Title 34 of the Revised Statutes.
����
Be It
Enacted
by the Senate and General Assembly of
the State of New Jersey:
����
1.��� As
used in this act:
���� �Advertisement�
means any circulation, mailing, posting, or any other form of publication,
utilizing any media, promoting an employer or intending to alert its audience,
regardless of size, to the availability of any position of employment.
���� �Applicant
for employment� means any person whom an employer considers when identifying
potential employees, through any means, including, but not limited to,
recruitment, solicitation, or seeking personal information, or any person who
requests to be considered for employment by an employer, or who requests
information from an employer related to seeking employment, and shall include
any person who currently is an employee of the employer.
���� �Employee�
means a person who is hired for a wage, salary, fee, or payment to perform work
for an employer, but excludes any person employed in the domestic service of
any family or person at the person�s home, any independent contractors, or any
directors or trustees. The term also shall include interns and apprentices.
���� �Employer�
means any person, company, corporation, firm, labor organization, or
association which has 15 or more employees over 20 calendar weeks and does
business, employs persons, or takes applications for employment within this
State, and means the State, any county or municipality, or any instrumentality
thereof. The term shall include job placement and referral agencies and other
employment agencies, but excludes the United States or any of its departments,
agencies, boards, or commissions, or any employee or agent thereof.
���� �Employment�
means any occupation, vocation, job, or work with pay, including temporary or
seasonal work, contingent work, and work through the services of a temporary or
other employment agency; any form of vocational apprenticeship; or any
internship. �The physical location of the prospective employment shall be in
whole, or substantial part, within this State.
���� �Employment
application� means a form, questionnaire or similar document or collection of
documents that an applicant for employment is required by an employer to
complete.
���� �Gender�
shall include an applicant�s sex and gender identity or expression as defined
in P.L.1945, c.169 (C.10:5-5).
���� "Initial
employment application process" means the period beginning when an
applicant for employment first makes an inquiry to an employer about a
prospective employment position or job vacancy or when an employer first makes
any inquiry to an applicant for employment about a prospective employment
position or job vacancy, and ending when an employer has conducted a first interview,
whether in person or by any other means of an applicant for employment.
���� 2.��� a.�� Except
as otherwise provided in section 3 of this act:
���� (1)� an
employer shall not require an applicant for employment to complete any
employment application that makes any inquiries regarding an applicant�s gender
during the initial employment application process; and
���� (2)� an
employer shall not make any oral or written inquiry regarding an applicant�s gender
during the initial employment application process.
���� �b
.�� An
e
mp
l
o
y
e
r shall not
be
p
e
rmit
t
e
d to
c
onsid
e
r wh
e
n
maki
n
g
a
n
e
mp
l
o
y
m
e
nt d
ec
is
i
on,
or
r
e
quire
a
n
y
a
ppl
i
ca
nt
to
disclose
or rev
ea
l,
or
to
ta
k
e
a
n
y
a
dv
er
se
e
mp
l
o
y
m
e
nt
ac
t
i
on
a
g
a
inst
a
n
y
a
ppl
i
ca
nt
on
t
he
b
a
sis
of the applicant�s gender.
���� �c.�� Nothing
set forth in this section shall be construed to prohibit an employer from
requiring an applicant for employment to complete an employment application
that makes any inquiries regarding an applicant's gender after the initial
employment application process has concluded or from making written inquiries
regarding an applicant's gender after the initial employment application
process has concluded as may be required to satisfy any other provision of
State or federal law.
����
3.��� The provisions of this act shall not apply if the
employment sought or being considered is for a position on the basis of gender
in those certain circumstances where gender is a bona fide occupational
qualification, reasonably necessary to the normal operation of the particular
business or enterprise.
���� 4.��� Any
employer who violates this act shall be liable for a civil penalty in an amount
not to exceed $1,000 for the first violation, $5,000 for the second violation,
and $10,000 for each subsequent violation collectible by the Commissioner of
Labor and Workforce Development in a summary proceeding pursuant to the
�Penalty Enforcement Law of 1999,� P.L.1999, c.274 (C.2A:58-10 et seq.). These
penalties shall be in addition to any other violations of law by an employer
that may be brought by an applicant.
���� 5.��� This
act shall take effect the first day of the sixth month next following the date
of enactment, but the Commissioner of Labor and Workforce Development may take
any anticipatory administrative action in advance as shall be necessary for the
implementation of this act.
STATEMENT
���� This bill prohibits employers
from inquiring about job applicant�s genders.
���� The bill prohibits
employers from requiring applicants for employment to
complete any employment application that makes any inquiries regarding the
applicant�s gender during the initial employment application process.�
Additionally, the bill prohibits employers from making any oral or written
inquiry regarding an applicant�s gender during the initial employment
application process.
����
The bill provides that
e
mp
l
o
y
e
rs are not
p
e
rmit
t
e
d
to
c
onsid
e
r wh
e
n maki
n
g
a
n
e
mp
l
o
y
m
e
nt
d
ec
is
i
on,
or to
r
e
quire
a
n
y
a
ppl
i
ca
nt
to
disclose
or rev
ea
l,
or
to
ta
k
e
a
n
y
a
dv
er
se
e
mp
l
o
y
m
e
nt
ac
t
i
on
a
g
a
inst
a
n
y
a
ppl
i
ca
nt
on
t
he
b
a
sis
of the applicant�s gender.
���� Under the bill,
employers may require applicants for employment to complete
an employment application that makes any inquiries regarding an applicant's gender
after the initial employment application process has concluded or make written
inquiries regarding an applicant's gender after the initial employment
application process has concluded as may be required to satisfy any other
provision of State or federal law.
����
The
provisions of the bill do not apply if the employment sought or being
considered is for a position on the basis of gender in those certain
circumstances where gender is a bona fide occupational qualification,
reasonably necessary to the normal operation of the particular business or
enterprise.