STATE OF NEW JERSEY
220th LEGISLATURE
PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2022 SESSION
Sponsored by:
Assemblyman ANTHONY S. VERRELLI
District 15 (Hunterdon and Mercer)
Assemblywoman VERLINA REYNOLDS-JACKSON
District 15 (Hunterdon and Mercer)
Assemblywoman CAROL A. MURPHY
District 7 (Burlington)
Co-Sponsored by:
Assemblyman Mejia, Assemblywomen McKnight and Timberlake
SYNOPSIS
Requires certain retailers to train employees on gift card fraud.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel.
An Act concerning gift cards and supplementing P.L.1960, c.39 (C.56:8-1 et seq.).
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. a. Every retail mercantile establishment in this State that displays gift cards for sale shall train employees on how to identify and respond to gift card fraud. A retail mercantile establishment shall conduct the training in accordance with guidelines issued pursuant to section 2 of this act.
b. A retail mercantile establishment that violates the provisions of this section shall be subject to a civil penalty of $1,000, which may be collected and enforced by the Director of the Division of Consumer Affairs in the Department of Law and Public Safety in a summary proceeding pursuant to the "Penalty Enforcement Law of 1999," P.L.1999, c.274 (C.2A:58-10 et seq.). The Superior Court shall have jurisdiction of proceedings for the enforcement of the penalty provided by this section.
A violation of this section shall not be considered an unlawful practice in violation of P.L.1960, c.39 (C.56:8-1 et seq.).
c. As used in this section:
"Gift card" means a tangible device, whereon is embedded or encoded in an electronic or other format a value issued in exchange for payment, which promises to provide to the bearer merchandise of equal value to the remaining balance of the device.
"Merchandise" means any objects, wares, goods, commodities, services, or anything offered, directly or indirectly, to the public for sale.
"Retail mercantile establishment" means any place of business where merchandise is exposed or offered for sale at retail to members of the consuming public.
2. The Director of the Division of Consumer Affairs in the Department of Law and Public Safety, in consultation with the Attorney General, shall issue guidelines concerning the detection and prevention of gift card fraud. The guidelines shall include, but not be limited to: (1) information raising public awareness of the prevalence of gift card fraud; (2) information concerning common gift card fraud schemes; and (3) best practices for retail mercantile establishments to prevent gift card fraud. The guidelines shall be published on the Internet websites of the Department of Law and Public Safety and the Division of Consumer Affairs, and updated periodically, as necessary.
3. This act shall take effect on the first day of the fourth month after enactment.
STATEMENT
This bill requires every mercantile establishment in this State that displays gift cards for sale to train employees on how to identify and respond to gift card fraud.
In consultation with the Attorney General, the Director of the Division of Consumer Affairs would be required to issue guidelines concerning the detection and prevention of gift card fraud. The training for employees of retail mercantile establishments would be required to be conducted in accordance with the guidelines.
The bill provides that the guidelines would include, but not be limited to: (1) information raising public awareness of the prevalence of gift card fraud; (2) information concerning common gift card fraud schemes; and (3) best practices for retail mercantile establishments to prevent gift card fraud. The guidelines would be published on the Internet websites of the Department of Law and Public Safety and the Division of Consumer Affairs, and updated periodically, as necessary.
A retail mercantile establishment that does not train employees as required by its provisions would be subject to a civil penalty in the amount of $1,000. However, failure to train employees would not be considered an unlawful practice in violation of the New Jersey consumer fraud act.