ASSEMBLY LABOR COMMITTEE

STATEMENT TO

ASSEMBLY, No. 2769

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

DATED:  JUNE 9, 2021

      The Assembly Labor Committee reports favorably Assembly Bill No. 2769.

      This bill requires a member of the State Employment and Training Commission to specialize in serving transgender communities. This implements a recommendation on employment from the report of the New Jersey Transgender Equality Task Force.

      Some studies have consistently found high rates of employment discrimination against transgender individuals and high rates of unemployment among transgender people, with higher rates for transgender people of color. Employment discrimination can lead transgender people to work in underground economies, which can compound the effects of employment discrimination as well as create issues with securing housing. Data from the 2015 United States Transgender Survey found that in New Jersey, 16 percent of transgender people had lost a job because of their gender identity or expression, 26 percent reported that they had been fired, not hired, or denied a promotion because of their gender identity or expression. This bill would ensure that strategies to enhance employment opportunities would also serve transgender populations.