By: Ty Hyderally, Esq., Francine Foner, Esq., and Adela Barbura

Assembly Bill No. A1474/S511, commonly referred to as the “Temporary Workers’ Bill of Rights,” was signed into law by New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy on February 6, 2023. The bill, which took effect on August 5, 2023, significantly expands protections and rights for more than 125,000 temporary workers in New Jersey. The bill defines “temporary laborer” as a “person who contracts for employment in a designated classification placement with a temporary help service firm.”

The new law is intended to strengthen the labor and employment rights of New Jersey’s temporary workers. Based on recent national data and studies, the New Jersey Legislature declared low-wage temporary workers as “particularly vulnerable to abuse of their labor rights.” This includes “unpaid wages, failure to pay for all hours worked, minimum wage and overtime violations, unsafe working conditions, unlawful deductions from pay for meals, transportation, equipment, and other items, as well as discriminatory practices.”

One aspect of inequity which the bill of rights aims to cure is the manner and method of payment of compensation.  Under the law, employers must abide by a temporary employee’s request to be paid on a bi-weekly basis, as opposed to being paid daily, to avoid unnecessary check-cashing fees and other costs. The bill also requires “temporary help service firms” (“THSF”), i.e., staffing firms, to pay temporary workers the same average rate of pay and provide equivalent benefits as permanent employees performing the same or similar work.  However, the law provides no guidance on how average rates of pay and equivalent benefits should be calculated. Rather, it merely contains the penalties for failing to follow the guidelines set forth regarding equivalent benefits and pay.

Temporary workers may bring a private action in the New Jersey Superior Court for a violation of the law. In addition, the bill of rights contains steep penalties for any THSFs who retaliate against temporary workers for exercising their rights under the new law.  A presumption of retaliation is raised when a temporary worker is fired or disciplined within 90 days of exercising their rights. In addition, a temporary worker alleging retaliation is entitled to either liquidated damages equal to “$20,000 per incident of retaliation” or all other legal or equitable relief available. The worker may also seek reinstatement and, if appropriate, attorney’s fees and costs.

In addition to the protections for temporary workers, the bill imposes stricter restrictions and obligations on THSFs when assigning temporary workers to businesses. These restrictions and obligations include:

• Expansive record-keeping requirements for each temporary worker;
• Mandatory assignment notice forms including information about the employer, the nature of work, whether meals and equipment are provided, and whether sick leave is available;
• Elimination of any fees charged to temporary workers for their transportation to worksites; and
• Removal of restrictions that inhibited temporary workers from accepting permanent positions with THSFs.

In addition, before making a designated classification placement for a temporary worker, the staffing firms must get placements certified by the Director of Division of Consumer Affairs in the Department of Law and Public Safety. This grants temporary workers a safety checkpoint, as the introduction of state oversight can reduce the discriminatory practices plaguing temporary work.

To help implement the new law, The Commissioner, with help from the Office of New Americans within the Department of Human Services, will develop and implement a “multilingual outreach program to inform temporary laborers … about their rights,” as well as engaging in regular outreach programs with staffing firms and THSFs utilizing temporary workers to effectively communicate rights, rules, and regulations with the workers.

The safeguards and protections enacted in the “Temporary Workers’ Bill of Rights” make it a huge win for New Jersey’s temporary workers. For more information, you can read the full “Temporary Workers’ Bill of Rights” here.

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