SENATE LABOR COMMITTEE

STATEMENT TO

SENATE, No. 2998

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

DATED:  DECEMBER 8, 2020

      The Senate Labor Committee reports, favorably, Senate Bill No. 2998.

      This bill requires any employer who has 50 or more employees to provide a hiring preference to an employee who was injured in a work-related injury, has reached maximum medical improvement, and cannot return to the employee’s former position with that employer.  The employer is only required to provide the hiring preference if the employee can perform the essential duties of an existing, unfilled position.

      The bill does not require an employer to create a new position for the injured employee, nor does it require the employer to remove another employee from an existing but filled position to accommodate the injured employee.