ASSEMBLY, No. 1701

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

INTRODUCED FEBRUARY 29, 1996

By Assemblyman ROCCO

An Act concerning physical examinations of school employees and amending N.J.S.18A:16-2.

    Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:

    1. N.J.S.18A:16-2 is amended to read as follows:

    18A:16-2. Every board of education [shall] may require [all of its employees, and may require] its employees and shall require any candidate for employment [,] who has received a conditional offer of employment to undergo a physical examination [,the scope whereof shall be determined under rules of the state board, at least once in every year and] . The board may require [additional] individual psychiatric or physical examinations of any employee, whenever, in the judgment of the board, an employee shows evidence of deviation from normal, physical or mental health.

    Any such examination may, if the board so requires, include laboratory tests or fluoroscopic or X-ray procedures for the obtaining of additional diagnostic data.

    Nothing in this section shall be so construed as to affect screening for tuberculosis or fitness examinations for bus drivers as required pursuant to statute, rule or regulation.

(cf: N.J.S.18A:16-2)

    2. This act shall take effect immediately.

STATEMENT

    This bill provides that a board of education may require its employees, and shall require any candidate for employment who has received a conditional offer of employment, to undergo a physical examination. Under the current statute, all current employees of a school board are required to undergo a physical exam annually and the board may require a physical exam of any candidate for employment. The bill makes clear that screening for tuberculosis or fitness examinations for bus drivers as required under any statute or regulation would not be affected.

    The bill makes a physical exam permissive for current employees and mandatory for candidates for employment who have a conditional offer of employment.

    While the bill provides a new requirement that candidates for employment undergo a physical examination, this requirement is permitted under the recently approved State constitutional amendment prohibiting unfunded mandates because the bill also eliminates the mandatory annual physical examination now required of all school board employees.

Eliminates annual physical examination required of all school employees.