Rewrite of the TJAAA — Here’s What Changed and Why It Matters
Stronger protections for job seekers, clearer rules for honest employers, and real teeth for enforcement.
After three solid weeks of writing and rewrites, the TJAAA just got a full rewrite and redressed into the HOLC-style (that’s the House Office of the Legislative Counsel approach to structure and clarity). It’s tighter, clearer, and more practical — without losing any bite against ghost jobs.
Clear Intent-to-Hire standard with evidence rules and a new 4-day prompt-withdrawal safe harbor for unforeseen business changes.
Stronger privacy + AI protections: applicants own their materials; limited-use license only; explicit opt-in for AI model training; rules for public vs. private online profiles (no scraping private spaces).
Cleaner compliance for honest employers: tiered notifications, right-sized public reporting, and practical recordkeeping keyed to a new PRK (Hiring-Org ID + PPRC).
Real recourse: a robust Private Right of Action, no forced arbitration, and a victim-first restitution fund with whistleblower awards.
Phased rollout so everyone can implement this right.
What’s new (at a glance)
1) Intent to Hire — clarity and fairness.
We define objective signals of real hiring activity and add an affirmative defense: if a role genuinely disappears and the posting is pulled within 4 days (with required notices), there’s no civil penalty for that scenario.
2) Applicant materials = your property.
Resumes, portfolios, code samples, and similar materials remain owned by the applicant. Employers and vendors get a narrow license to use them only for the posted role — plus an opt-in (not default) if they want to train AI on them, with purge timelines and de-identification.
3) Online profiles, separated.
Public profiles (e.g., LinkedIn you share): snapshot rules, no scraping/embedding, copy-back on adverse action.
Private/membership-only spaces (Discords, private groups, dating apps): bright-line no to access, scraping, or pretexting; strict vendor attestations and prompt-purge on notice.
4) Smarter posting & transparency.
Standardized, DOL-defined fields and taxonomies: funding status, contingent status, position class (new/replacement/existing), vacancy period, compensation details, and an AI/ATS/AEDT use matrix — all keyed to a unique PRK = Hiring-Org Identifier + PPRC so postings can’t be disguised by copy-pasting across platforms.
5) Notifications & reporting that scale.
We replaced “read-receipt + postal affidavit for everything” with tiered delivery standards (routine, status, legal-impact) and thresholded public reporting (quarterly or annual), with small-employer accommodations. Records/retention are clearer, audit-ready, and aligned to the PRK.
6) Enforcement with teeth.
Private Right of Action (class-action enabled), no forced arbitration, plaintiff-friendly venue.
Privacy penalties: $10,000 per applicant per unauthorized disclosure plus $5,000 every 30 days it goes unacknowledged.
TJAAA Enforcement & Restitution Fund pays victims first; whistleblower awards (10–30%) encourage reporting.
7) Phased timeline.
Effective in 90 days, with staged agency enforcement and penalties to give good-faith actors time to comply.
Why this matters
Ghost jobs waste time, money, and dignity. The HOLC rewrite gives workers clarity and leverage — while giving honest employers clear rules, practical defenses, and simpler compliance.
Get involved
Read the latest draft at TruthInJobAds.org (new PDF and section summaries coming).
Add your voice: please sign and share the petition: https://www.change.org/StopGhostJobs
Contact us if you’re an employer, recruiter, platform, or policymaker ready to collaborate on implementation.
Together, we can make job postings mean what they say.
