Providing for job posting requirements; and imposing penalties.
HB2321, titled the Ghost Job Postings Prevention Act, would create new statewide rules for publicly advertised job postings in Pennsylvania. It requires employers and hiring organizations to include detailed information in job ads, such as whether the role is an existing vacancy, anticipated vacancy, or new position; the expected hiring timeline; whether the job is fully funded; salary range and the share of pay tied to incentives, commissions, or bonuses; how many times the job has been posted in the past year; whether artificial intelligence will be used in hiring; and whether the posting appears on multiple job boards.
The bill also sets limits on how long postings may remain active and how they may be reused. A posting could not remain listed for more than 90 days, must stay up at least four days, and could not be relisted three consecutive times for the same position within a calendar year. Once a position is filled, employers would have to remove the posting within two weeks and notify third-party job boards if they know the listing is still up elsewhere. After interviews, employers would need to notify applicants about whether the role has been filled, whether the applicant is still under consideration, and when a final decision is expected.
HB2321 would make it unlawful to post false or misleading jobs, jobs that do not exist, postings made without the hiring organization’s knowledge or consent, postings more than 90 days before the intended hire date, or postings kept indefinitely without a real hiring intent. It also restricts the use of applicant data, barring data mining and data selling and requiring applicant data to be deleted within one year after the posting ends. The Department of Labor and Industry would enforce the act and could assess penalties of $1,000 to $5,000 per violation, with each week of noncompliance treated as a separate violation; data mining or data selling could trigger civil penalties of up to $25,000 per affected applicant.
The bill’s practical impact would be to impose significant disclosure, recordkeeping, and posting-management obligations on employers, staffing entities, and job boards that advertise to Pennsylvania residents. It would also create a new enforcement role for the Department of Labor and Industry and provide applicants with more transparency about the status and legitimacy of job openings. Smaller employers with fewer than 50 employees would be exempt, limiting the bill’s reach to larger businesses and hiring entities.
No committee transcript or vote history was provided, so there is no recorded legislative debate or roll-call sentiment to summarize. Based on the bill text alone, the measure appears aimed at curbing so-called ghost jobs and improving hiring transparency, while likely raising compliance concerns for employers and job platforms because of the detailed posting requirements, notification duties, and penalties.
HB2321 would amend Pennsylvania law by creating a new chapter of job-posting requirements applicable to employers, hiring organizations, and related entities that advertise jobs to Pennsylvania residents. It would regulate the content, duration, removal, and reuse of job postings, impose applicant-notification duties, restrict applicant-data practices, and authorize the Department of Labor and Industry to enforce the law through administrative and civil penalties. The bill would not apply to employers with fewer than 50 employees.
No committee discussion or voting record was provided, so there is no documented legislative sentiment from debate or floor action. From the bill text, the policy intent is clearly consumer- and worker-protective, targeting misleading or non-existent job ads and improving transparency in hiring. At the same time, the measure would likely be viewed favorably by job seekers and worker advocates, while employers, recruiters, and job-board operators may view it as burdensome because of the detailed disclosure, notification, and compliance requirements.
The main points of contention likely involve whether the bill’s requirements are too prescriptive for employers and hiring platforms, and whether the penalties are too severe relative to the conduct being regulated. Employers may object to mandated disclosures about funding, salary composition, AI use, and posting history, as well as the obligation to track and notify applicants and third-party job boards. Another likely issue is the broad treatment of applicant data, including the ban on data mining and data selling and the one-year retention limit. Supporters would likely emphasize the need to stop ghost jobs, misleading ads, and misuse of applicant information, while critics may argue the bill could be difficult to administer and could discourage legitimate recruiting activity.