New Laws Against Law Discrimination
New Jersey Amends Workplace Bias Law to Expand Protections Against Age Discrimination:
New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy has just signed a bill amending the State’s workplace bias statute by expanding protections against age discrimination. Then came a new law that eliminates a provision of the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination (NJLAD) that permitted employers to refuse to hire or promote any persons over 70 years old.
The removal of the upper age limit is most significant for employees with less than 20 employees. They can no longer refuse to hire or promote an individual over the age of 70. All damages available to aggravated workers under the NJLAD are now available to all individuals aged 70 and older as a result of the Amendment.
Other Aspects of the New Law: The amendment establishes a higher standard for determining the mandatory retirement age for government employees. It repeals the provision that allowed government employers to force employees to retire if they could demonstrate that "the retirement age bore a manifest relationship to the allowing government employers to mandate their employees retire upon attainment of a certain age if the employer can demonstrate the employee is unable to adequately perform his or her duties."
Finally, the new law broadens the remedies available to employees who are forced to retire (now including all remedies available under the NJLAD) as well as the forum in which employees can file a complaint. Prior to the Amendment, employees who had been forced to retire could only seek reinstatement and backpay by filing complaints with the Attorney General.
This revision of the law should cause you to revisit any written policies or other company practices related to hiring restrictions for those over the age of 70. Now that this area of the law has changed, you will need to bring your hiring policies and practices into line with the current state of affairs.
Even if your policies and practices were not restricted in this way, this amendment will undoubtedly bring the issue of age discrimination to the forefront of the minds of workers and plaintiffs' attorneys alike, serving as a good reminder for you to keep your compliance efforts up-to-date when it comes to age bias issues. You should examine and, if required, adjust your criteria for promotions and hiring to ensure that age is not a factor in determining which employees to promote or hire. You should also make sure that your employees are up-to-date on any discrimination training, including implicit bias training.