New Jersey Invoice to Amend Employees’ Compensation Statute Would Intervene with Employers’ Hiring Practices

The central theses

• The New Jersey Assembly Committee has decided to pass Law No. 2617, a recruitment law that would affect employers with 50 or more employees

• Under the proposed law, an employer would have to hire the injured worker in place of a new worker to fill a vacancy, as long as the injured worker can perform the essential duties of the vacancy

• The bill does not mention what would happen if an employer disregarded the preference and hired someone other than the injured employee for the open position

The New Jersey Assembly Committee has decided to pass Law No. 2617, a recruitment law that would affect employers with 50 or more employees. The Recruitment Preferences Act provides that these employers grant a recruitment preference to an injured worker who has achieved maximum medical improvement but is unable to return to his previous position. Under the proposed law, an employer would have to hire the injured worker in place of a new worker to fill a vacancy, as long as the injured worker can perform the essential duties of the vacancy.

The bill as it stands does not provide any further guidance on the proposed hiring preference. The bill does not contain any information on whether an employer should give the injured worker an attitude preference over a potential worker who is more skilled, over an worker with his own disability, or over another worker who is equally qualified and seeks a change in position. The bill does not mention any other circumstances or factors that an employer might consider in deciding who to hire in such situations.

The bill does not mention what would happen if an employer disregarded the preference and hired someone other than the injured employee for the open position. The bill does not mention what the penalty would be or what mechanism there would be to enforce the bill. The bill also does not specify where to rule on alleged violations of the proposed Hiring Act, including whether the New Jersey Supreme Court or the New Jersey Employee Compensation Department would hear claims for such alleged violations .

The law allows compensation judges to rule on questions related to medical, temporary and permanent disability benefits attributable to injured workers. Employment issues are generally the responsibility of a senior judge and not the division of labor compensation. The draft law aims to amend the Employee Compensation Act, but does not transfer the power to resolve disputes about recruitment preferences to the compensation judges. Employers must closely monitor this proposed legislation.