Murphy Signs Controversial ‘Bill Of Rights’ For NJ Temp Workers

NEW JERSEY — There is now a “Temporary Workers Bill of Rights” in New Jersey.

On Monday, Gov. Phil Murphy signed A-1474/S-511 into law, beefing up job protections for an estimated 127,000 temporary workers in the state, many of whom work in the warehouse industry.

The legislation has seen harsh criticism from business groups and temp agencies, who have argued that it will be a huge drain on employers – potentially impacting the number of available jobs – and could force businesses to move to other states due to the increased cost.

However, labor advocates and workers have argued that more regulations are desperately needed in an industry that is rife with low pay, discrimination, wage violations, a lack of health benefits, uncertain schedules and serious safety risks. Read More: NJ Temp Workers Say Tragic Car Crash Shows Urgent Need For Change

According to a statement from Murphy's office, here's what the new law will do:

EQUAL PAY - "In an effort to advance pay equity, the bill will allow for temporary workers to be paid at least the same average rate of pay and equivalent benefits as the third-party client’s permanent employees performing the same or similar work on jobs that require equal skill, effort, and responsibility. At the request of a temporary worker, temporary help service firms must hold daily wages and provide biweekly pay checks to avoid unnecessary check cashing fees that eat away at earnings. The bill also prohibits pay deductions for meals and equipment that would reduce temporary workers’ pay below minimum wage. Under a law signed by Gov. Murphy in 2019, the minimum wage was set to gradually raise to $15 per hour by 2024 for most employees. The statewide minimum wage increased to $14.13, effective, January 1, 2023. Firms and third-party clients will also be prohibited from charging fees to transport temporary workers to their work sites."

INFORMING WORKERS - "Additionally, temporary help services must provide temporary workers with common sense information detailing key terms of employment in the workers’ primary languages, such as hours worked and rate of pay."

ANTI-RETALIATION - "Temporary service firms are prohibited from restricting an employee from accepting another position with a permanent employer or a third-party client. Further, the bill forbids temporary help service firms or third-party clients from retaliating against any temporary worker by firing them or treating them unfairly in any other way for exercising their legal rights."

The bill also allows for greater oversight of temporary help service firms and third-party clients by the Department of Labor and Workforce Development (NJDOL) and the Division of Consumer Affairs (DCA) within the Department of Law and Public Safety. Under the bill, DCA will oversee enhanced certification requirements for temporary help service firms. Contracting with uncertified firms will be prohibited for third-party clients. Enforcement actions will fall under the NJDOL’s purview.

“Our temporary workers, regardless of their race or status, are key contributors to the workforce in our state,” Murphy said, thanking the bill’s sponsors and workers' rights advocates for “their leadership and tireless efforts on this issue.”

“Signing the Temporary Workers’ Bill of Rights establishes necessary 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,” the governor added.

The proposed law has seen a rocky road since it was first laid at the feet of state lawmakers last year. After it got final approval from the Legislature in August, Murphy conditionally vetoed it in September. But the governor also praised the bill’s overall goals and said he is open to a revised version of the legislation – which passed a vote in the state Assembly in October. Read More: Gov. Murphy Vetoes 'Temp Worker Bill Of Rights' In New Jersey

However, the revamped bill stalled in the Senate, which raised an outcry from labor advocates when lawmakers chose to pull the proposed law from a voting session in November. Read More: Activists Outraged As NJ Senate Punts Vote On Temporary Worker Bill

The Senate finally voted to pass the bill last week. Read More: Bill Boosting NJ Temp Workers Headed To Gov. Murphy's Desk – Again

Germania Hernandez, an organizer with New Labor and a former temp worker, repeated a slogan that many of her peers have been chanting since last week: "Si se puede!"

"Winning this bill lets the agencies know the power we have as workers and saying 'no more' to injustices and discrimination," Hernandez said. "For workers, this is about filling us with hope and having a baseline to demand our rights."

‘TEMPING’ IN NEW JERSEY: A CHANGING INDUSTRY

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, more than 127,000 people are employed by temporary staffing agencies in New Jersey.

The Mount Laurel-based New Jersey Staffing Alliance, a trade association that advocates for temping firms, gave a glimpse into the growing influence of the industry in a recent news release:

“In New Jersey alone, over 90,000 temporary workers assist employers each week throughout the state, according to the American Staffing Association. Nearly a million temporary workers each year bring an average of $5.3 billion dollars to the state’s economy … Temporary employees currently staff some of the largest industries in the state. Most workers are working in the transportation, distributions and logistics operations, which in 2020, employed 401,005 workers, or 12.5 percent of the state’s private sector workers.”

But things have changed a lot from the days of the stereotypical “Kelly Girl” working as a typist or file clerk in the offices of America in the 1960s.

In recent years, temping has largely shifted from office buildings to warehouses in New Jersey, the National Employment Law Project says. Industrial jobs made up nearly half of all temp assignments in 2018, while office and administrative positions made up less than 17 percent.

Like others across the U.S., many people in New Jersey did their shopping from home during the pandemic, fueling an online boom that raked in massive profits for some of the nation’s largest corporations. And warehouses – an integral part of their supply chain – couldn’t have met the demand without the help of temporary workers.

According to the National Employment Law Project, it’s a whole new ballgame – and big corporations looking to cut costs are the winners:

“Shipping goods to Walmart stores. Sorting recyclables for waste management. Processing New England seafood. Filling orders for Nike. Across the nation and across New Jersey, major companies are creating insecurity for workers and their families as corporate profits skyrocket. They have outsourced work—not overseas, but to temp agencies here in New Jersey—all along their supply chains, from production to shipping and packing of their products.”

Many of these jobs are located on the I-95 corridor, unpacking and repackaging consumer goods that arrive through one of the nation’s busiest shipping destinations, Port Newark. Meanwhile, temp agencies have set up offices in towns and cities that include New Brunswick, Union City, Elizabeth, Paterson, Passaic, Plainfield and Trenton – almost always near neighborhoods with high percentages of Latino/Latina residents.

• See Related: Latina Workers In NJ Face One Of America's Ugliest Pay Gaps

BUSINESS GROUPS, LABOR ADVOCATES CLASH

Business advocates and labor activists clashed yet again after last week's Senate vote.

The New Jersey Business & Industry Association (NJBIA) said that while it appreciates the intent of the bill, it would jeopardize legitimate temp agencies, harm third-party businesses that use them, and, as a result, provide less opportunity for those seeking temporary employment.

"The staffing industry – a major contributor to New Jersey’s economy – will be worse off because of this bill," NJBIA Vice President of Government Affairs Alexis Bailey said.

"Employers will face even greater challenges as they seek to fill gaps in their workforce," Bailey continued. "Ultimately, the unintended consequences will hurt the very workers this bill seeks to protect."

Bailey added:

"The bill narrowly passed by the Senate today, after not having enough votes on previous occasions, requires temporary workers to be paid the average compensation rate and benefits or the cash equivalent of the average cost of benefits paid to their employee counterparts. As a result of this, some temporary workers will be making more than permanent employees whose wages are determined by seniority and experience. There are also many logistical burdens to consider as temp agencies contract with multiple businesses that offer different benefits packages. All of this will serve to make it extremely difficult to provide jobs for temporary workers. Other states like Illinois and Massachusetts have taken steps to bring further protections and transparency for temporary workers without this damaging provision. But New Jersey, as is unfortunately typical, has gone a step too far to be an outlier in bringing as many burdens to business as possible."

But according to Diana Bello, a temp worker and member of advocacy group Make the Road New Jersey, the law is another step towards "justice" for hundreds of thousands of essential workers and their families.

"We applaud the New Jersey State Senate for standing on the side of respect and dignity for the more than 127,000 essential workers in New Jersey who keep the economy afloat," Bello said.

According to Make the Road New Jersey:

"Discrimination, wage theft and workplace safety violation have been well documented by temp workers especially through the pandemic. Essential temp workers have disproportionately reported experiencing work-related injuries or illness while employed through a staffing agency. Make the Road New Jersey’s report highlights workers’ stories of abuse, wage theft, age discrimination, and unsafe work conditions that hundreds of thousands of predominantly Black and Latinx temporary workers faced while working in essential, frontline jobs during the pandemic across New Jersey."

Make the Road New Jersey, one of several groups that have been pushing for the bill of rights over the past year, said the new law is the “first legislation in the country to provide fundamental rights to essential temp workers.”

And for people like Janeth Caicedo – whose brother, Edilberto, was crushed to death while working on a temp job assignment at a warehouse in Kearny – it’s a godsend for thousands of people in the Garden State and their families.

“Too many temp workers have lost their lives on the job or been subject to wage theft or retaliation,” Caicedo said. Today marks the beginning of a new chapter where temp workers will have the respect, dignity and safety they deserve.”

• See Related: NJ Temp Agencies Face Criticism As Vote Nears On 'Bill Of Rights'

Send news tips and correction requests to eric.kiefer@patch.com. Learn more about advertising on Patch here. Find out how to post announcements or events to your local Patch site.