Workforce Bulletin

We previously reported that the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development (“NJDOL”) issued proposed regulations to implement New Jersey’s Temporary Workers’ Bill of Rights (the “Act”), including its pay equity requirement. On September 16, 2024, the NJDOL adopted N.J.A.C. 12:72 (the “Regulations”) implementing sections 1 through 7, and 10 of the Act, pertaining to “workplace protections, as well as temporary help service firm and third-party client responsibilities.” The key provisions are summarized below.

Pay Equity Requirement

Significantly, the Regulations provide a formula for calculating the minimum hourly rate of pay for temporary workers, which under the Act is determined by “the average rate of pay and average cost of benefits” of comparator employees, i.e., employees of the third-party client who perform:

the same or substantially similar work on jobs the performance of which requires equal skill, effort, and responsibility, and which are performed under similar working conditions for the third-party client at the time the temporary laborer is assigned to work at the third-party client.

As we previously reported, on May 8, 2023, the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development (“NJDOL”) published a web page providing guidance in the form of Frequently Asked Questions (the “FAQs”) to assist employers in complying  with the provisions of the Temporary Workers’ Bill of Rights (the “Law”). Recently the NJDOL released proposed regulations to implement the Law (the “Proposed Regulations”) that elaborate on many of the Law’s provisions, including its pay equity requirement.  Public comment on the Proposed Regulations will be accepted until October 20, 2023.

In addition to the Proposed Regulations, the NJDOL has also updated its FAQs.

On May 8, 2023 the New Jersey Department of  Labor and Workforce Development (“NJDOL”) announced that it has created a web page to highlight key provisions and provide guidance for compliance with the recently enacted Temporary Workers’ Bill of Rights (the “Law”). As we previously discussed, the Law creates notification requirements for temporary help service firms when placing a temporary laborer at a worksite, prohibits retaliation against a temporary laborer for exercising his or her rights under the Law, and requires equal pay and benefits for temporary laborers performing the same or substantially similar job functions as employees of the third party contracting employer at each worksite. Although the bulk of the Law’s provisions do not take effect until August 5, 2023, the notification and prohibition on retaliation provisions are effective as of May 7, 2023.

The web page provides an overview of the Law and a set of Frequently Asked Questions (“FAQs”) covering the Law’s key provisions. The FAQs discuss which provisions went into effect on May 7 and summarizes those set to take place August 5, noting that additional guidance will be published in the coming months.

On August 1, 2022, the New Jersey Division on Civil Rights (DCR) adopted new and amended regulations concerning the “Display of Official Posters of the Division on Civil Rights,” which require employers, housing providers, and places of public accommodation to prominently display “in places easily visible” to those who would be affected by violations of these laws, posters created by DCR to inform individuals and covered entities of their rights and obligations under the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination (LAD) and Family Leave Act (NJFLA).

UPDATE: On August 10, 2020, the NJDOL formally adopted the temporary rule without change.

On March 20, 2020, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy signed legislation (“Law”) prohibiting employers from taking any adverse employment action against employees who take, or request, time off due to an infectious disease that could affect others at work based on a written recommendation of a New Jersey licensed medical professional.  The Law, which we summarized in a previous article, became effective upon enactment.

On April 1, the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development ...