Gov. Murphy Signs Temp Worker ‘Bill Of Rights'

By By Christian Wade | The Center Square contributor, The Center Square New Jersey

20 hrs ago

(The Center Square) — Temporary workers in New Jersey will get new protections under a "bill of rights" signed into law by Gov. Phil Murphy, which is aimed at preventing "wage theft" and other abuses by unscrupulous employers.

The law, which goes into effect in 90 days, will eliminate many of the fees temp agencies deduct from workers’ paychecks, require companies to pay them the same as their full-time counterparts and provide basic information in their native language about where they will be working, the pay rate and how much sick time they can receive.

Temp workers would also be guaranteed to earn at least minimum wage after fees are deducted from their checks, under the new law.

The requirements are expected to benefit more than 127,000 temp workers who are employed by temp agencies in New Jersey, mostly in warehouse and factory operations.

Murphy said the new law sets guidelines for temporary help service firms and third-party clients "to ensure that these workers are afforded basic protections and treated with the dignity they deserve."

“Our temporary workers, regardless of their race or status, are key contributors to the workforce in our state," Murphy, a Democrat, said in a statement.

One of the bill's primary sponsors, state Assemblywoman Yvonne Lopez, D-Middlesex, called the new workplace protections a "historic victory for labor rights."

“Temporary workers have been treated differently for far too long and have been forced to deal with a multitude of injustices all while carrying out essential work and trying to provide for their families," she said. "The law will ensure temporary workers are finally protected and will create a safer and fairer temporary labor sector in New Jersey."

Approval of the new protections comes after more than a year of legislative wrangling over details of the bill, and pushback for business groups, who argued it would hurt employers by driving up labor costs.

The Democratic-controlled state Legislature initially approved the bill last year, but Murphy issued a conditional veto, calling for changes to the proposal. Lawmakers revised the bill to accommodate Murphy's demands and have held several votes since last October on the proposal.

The legislation was prompted, in part, by published news reports revealing some low-paid temp workers were being exploited and mistreated by temp agencies that set them up with jobs in local warehouses and factories.

But Alexis Bailey, vice president of government affairs for the New Jersey Business and Industry Association, said the requirement of the new law that temporary workers be paid on par with full-time employees will make it "extremely difficult" to provide jobs for them.

Bailey said that provision of the law will "greatly drive up the cost of utilizing temp agencies" ... "jeopardize legitimate temp agencies, harm third-party businesses that use them, and, as a result, provide less opportunity for those seeking temporary employment.”

The focus of the work of The Center Square New Jersey is state and local-level government and economic reporting that approaches stories with a taxpayer sensibility.