New York Moves to Crack Down on ‘Ghost Job’ Postings

The New York State Legislature recently passed a bill addressing the phenomenon of “ghost posts,” or job advertisements for openings that are nonexistent, or that the employer does not intend to fill in the short term.

“The bill would require certain employers and job posting platforms to disclose whether a job ad is tied to a current opening — and, if so, when the employer expects to fill it, or whether the posting is being used to build a future candidate pipeline,” said Amanda Blair, an attorney in the New York City office of Fisher Phillips.

Employers with 100 or more employees and third-party job posting sites would be required to clearly disclose in job advertisements whether the employer:

• Intends to fill the position in 90 days or less.
• Intends to fill the position in more than 90 days.
• Does not expect the job to be filled and is instead seeking resumes for future review.

Employers and third parties would be required to remove job ads within two weeks of a position being filled.

The legislation is intended to crack down on a recruiting practice that’s “dishonest and exploitative,” said New York State Sen. Michael Gianaris, who sponsored the bill.

Specialty Credential: Talent Acquisition

“Compliance would not rest only with the company’s internal HR or talent acquisition team,” Blair said. “If the bill becomes law, employers may need to coordinate with job boards, staffing firms, recruiters, recruitment process outsourcing providers, and other vendors to make sure postings include the required language and are removed when a role is filled.”

The notice requirement creates a practical monitoring issue, she added. “Employers may need a process to monitor postings that appear outside their own systems, including postings created or reposted by third-party platforms. If the employer knows or reasonably should know that a third-party posting entity independently posted the role, the employer would need to notify that entity once the position is filled.”

The bill would authorize the New York State Department of Labor to impose fines of $2,500 per violation, which would double every 30 days the ad is not corrected.

“There is no private right of action in the bill,” Blair said. “Instead, the bill would authorize the New York State Department of Labor to conduct audits of employer and third-party job posting entity practices and allow aggrieved individuals to report alleged violations.”

Jack Blum, an attorney with Polsinelli, based in New York City and Washington, D.C., said that the penalties for violations can potentially be steep, because employers can be fined $2,500 per platform on which the noncompliant listing is posted. 

“This means that if an employer posts a noncompliant listing on its own webpage, LinkedIn, and Indeed, the penalty potentially increases to $7,500,” he said. “Given how many third-party platforms repost jobs — often without authorization, but potentially with the ‘knowledge’ of the employer — these penalties can quickly multiply. If the noncompliant posting is not rectified within 30 days of the finding of a violation, the employer is subject to an additional $5,000 fine per platform, which continues to double for each subsequent 30-day period in which the violation is not rectified.”

Blair added that the bill does not identify a safe harbor or good-faith defense for employers whose hiring timelines change after a posting goes live. “The bill also does not specify how precise an employer’s projected hiring timeline must be or whether employers will have an opportunity to update those projections without triggering liability. That is a practical concern because hiring plans often shift for legitimate reasons, including budget changes, headcount freezes, business needs, or candidate availability.”

The legislation is awaiting signature by Gov. Kathy Hochul. If enacted, it would take effect immediately.

“Governor Hochul has yet to take a public position on the bill,” said Howard Lavin, an attorney in the New York City office of Thompson Coburn. “Bills that pass both the Senate and Assembly generally are transmitted to the governor in batches, often toward the end of the calendar year,” he said.

Resource: State and Local Updates

Several other states are also considering legislation to address ghost posts. Pennsylvania’s Ghost Job Postings Prevention Act, introduced in March, requires employers to provide specific details in job postings, including an estimated timeframe for filling the position, the intended hire and start dates, the salary range, and the extent to which AI will be used in hiring. The legislation also mandates that filled job postings be removed within two weeks.

In New Jersey, a bill introduced in May would require a third-party job posting company to specify whether a job post is for an existing vacancy. When a vacant position has been filled, the advertisement must be removed within two weeks or within 30 days of the original posting, whichever is later.

California legislation that passed the state Assembly and has been sitting in the Senate Appropriations Committee since August 2025 would add a requirement to the state’s labor code that “every private employer who publicly advertises a job posting shall include in the posting a statement disclosing whether the posting is for a vacancy for the advertised position or not.”

Preparing in New York

Blair recommended affected New York employers start preparing now because the law would take effect immediately if signed by the governor.

She advised employers to:

• Map where job ads appear. “Identify every place your jobs are posted, including your career site, LinkedIn, Indeed, industry boards, staffing agencies, recruiter-managed platforms, and any automated job distribution tools,” she said.
• Separate active roles from pipeline postings.
• Develop a process for setting and updating expected fill dates.
• Create a removal, monitoring, and notice protocol. Employers should consider who owns the job ad removal process, how they will confirm that third-party platforms have removed or updated ads, and how they will notify third-party posting entities.
• Review third-party posting relationships.