We wrote a number of blog entries recently discussing the fact that there is no law prohibiting employers from refusing to hire the unemployed. And just yesterday we noted that the President’s new jobs bill sent to Congress incorporates a provision that employers may not refuse to hire persons on the basis of their being unemployed.  

Note that New Jersey recently enacted a law that, while it did not go as far as the President’s proposal, nonetheless provides that employers and employment agencies may not publish ads – either in print or electronically – that, in essence, states that the unemployed need not apply.     

No private right of action is provided, but offenders may be liable for civil penalties.