New Jersey Joins Data Privacy Party - New Jersey Data Protection Act Becomes Effective in January 2025

by Mercedes de la Rosa, Harris Freier, Benjamin Perry; Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart, P.C. - JD Supra

Signed into law at the beginning of 2024, colloquially known as the New Jersey Data Protection Act (NJDPA), N.J. Stat. § 56:8-166.4 et seq. will go into effect on January 15, 2025, as New Jersey joins eighteen other states with comprehensive data privacy laws. Businesses affected typically include large retailers with significant online presences, online advertising platforms, social media companies, insurers, and data brokers, and these businesses may want to focus on identifying their New Jersey consumers to ensure compliance, as the forgiveness period for this law expires on July 15, 2025.

Read more: https://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/new-jersey-joins-data-privacy-party-new-3052672/

Lawmakers Introduce Criminal Information Protection Bill in Trenton

by Shore News Network

TRENTON, N.J. — A new bill introduced in the New Jersey legislature aims to update procedures for handling criminal background checks in the state, particularly focusing on individuals with pending expungement orders. The proposed law would amend P.L.1985, c.169, requiring the State Bureau of Identification (SBI) within the New Jersey State Police to verify and update criminal records before disseminating any background information.

Read more: https://www.shorenewsnetwork.com/2024/10/22/lawmakers-introduce-criminal-information-protection-bill-in-trenton/

NJ issues notices to 25 landlords claiming they discriminated based on criminal records

by Megan Burrow - NorthJersey.com

New Jersey issued notices to 25 landlords across the state it claims illegally denied housing to applicants based on their criminal history, state Attorney General Matthew Platkin announced this week.  

The state Division on Civil Rights alleges the landlords violated New Jersey’s Fair Chance in Housing Act by asking criminal history-related questions on housing applications that are against the law, by stating to potential applicants that they would not consider applicants with prior criminal records, or by posting housing advertisements or maintaining housing policies that do not comply with the housing act.

Read more: https://www.northjersey.com/story/news/new-jersey/2024/09/20/nj-notifies-landlords-they-discriminated-based-on-criminal-records/75308480007/

Construction Workers in New Jersey Public Schools Need Background Checks, Lawmakers Say

by Shore News Network

TRENTON, NJ — New legislation introduced in New Jersey aims to fortify the safety protocols surrounding construction and public works activities in school environments. The bill, which revises existing requirements for criminal history record checks, mandates that all workers involved in school construction or public works must demonstrate clean criminal records from the Federal Bureau of Investigation or State Bureau of Identification before commencing work.

Read more: https://www.shorenewsnetwork.com/2024/06/09/construction-workers-in-new-jersey-public-schools-need-background-checks-lawmakers-say/

New Jersey Considers Restricting Use of Artificial Intelligence in the Hiring Process

by Fox Rothschild LLP, Brian Frederick, Kenneth Rosenberg - JD Supra

As employers have increasingly used artificial intelligence (AI) and other Automated Employment Decision Tools (AEDTs) to assist human resource professionals and hiring managers in reviewing voluminous resumes, federal and state governmental authorities have become concerned that these tools are disproportionately screening out female and minority applicants.

Read more: https://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/new-jersey-considers-restricting-use-of-3885587/?origin=CEG&utm_source=CEG&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=CustomEmailDigest&utm_term=jds-article&utm_content=article-link

New Jersey Legislature Passes Consumer Privacy Bill

by Kyle Dull, Alan Friel - Privacy World

On January 8, New Jersey’s General Assembly and Senate passed a consumer privacy bill, S332, which would grant New Jersey residents several rights, and obligate controllers and processors of New Jersey residents to take action. The law is similar to consumer privacy laws passed last year in other states, with some distinctions.

Read more: https://www.privacyworld.blog/2024/01/new-jersey-legislature-passes-consumer-privacy-bill/#page=1

New Jersey Enacts Temporary Workers’ Bill Of Rights Law

by Evandro Gigante, Laura Fant, Margo Richard - Proskauer

On February 6, 2023, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy signed the Temporary Workers’ Bill of Rights (A1474/S511) into law. The law only covers temporary laborers who are assigned to work by a temporary help service firm in a “designated classification placement,” which includes certain workers in food preparation and service, building and grounds cleaning/maintenance, personal care and service, construction, and transportations occupations, among others.

Read more: https://www.lawandtheworkplace.com/2023/02/new-jersey-enacts-temporary-workers-bill-of-rights-law/#page=1

N.J. bill would help people with criminal records find housing

by Michaelle Bond - The Philadelphia Inquirer

A New Jersey single father of two convicted of drug offenses has been sober for almost two years and has been out of prison for about three. The man, who is in his 30s, has a stable job working for a union and has enough money for a security deposit and to make rent payments.

“Yet he can’t find an apartment that’s willing to take him because of his felony conviction,” said Priscilla Carmona, a cofounder of the Jersey City-based organization SCORES Reentry, which provides services to formerly incarcerated people throughout New Jersey.

Read more: https://www.inquirer.com/real-estate/housing/criminal-record-landlord-housing-nj-ban-the-box-20210531.html

Pending legislation would curtail criminal background checks for renters

by Colleen O’Dea - NJ Spotlight News

New Jersey lawmakers and social-justice advocates launched a push Tuesday for legislation to help the formerly incarcerated rent an apartment by curtailing the ability of landlords to deny housing to some people based on their criminal histories.

The Fair Chance Housing Act, embodied in S-250 and A-1919, is an effort to “ban the box” that asks whether a person has been convicted of a crime on housing-rental applications. The bills would still allow a landlord to ultimately deny renting to someone with a criminal record based on certain criteria and if the landlord has a “substantial, legitimate and nondiscriminatory interest” in doing so. But failure to follow the law would subject a landlord to penalties.

Read more: https://www.njspotlight.com/2021/04/nj-legislation-criminal-background-checks-renters-application-discrimination-fines-for-landlords/