NJ Bill Would Protect ‘Service Employee’ Jobs When Ownership Changes

NEW JERSEY — A proposed state law would prevent New Jersey employers from firing or laying off a wide range of “service employees” without just cause for three months when ownership changes hands.

Last week, the Assembly Labor Committee voted 5-3 to advance A-4682. The bill would apply to contractors – including subcontractors – who have more than four service employees. Bosses wouldn’t be able to reduce a worker’s hours to meet the law’s requirements.

Who is a “service employee?” According to the New Jersey Business and Industry Association (NJBIA), which is opposing the bill:

“Under the legislation, the large range of service workers include any non-managerial or professional employee who works 16 hours or more per week in connection with the care or maintenance of a building or property. This includes, but is not limited to security, front desk, maintenance, grounds maintenance, stationary fireman, elevator operators, window cleaners and janitorial service staff. At airports, it includes passenger-related security services, cargo related and ramp services, in-terminal and passenger handling and cleaning services. In schools, it includes food service workers. Employers and facilities captured under this legislation include multi-family residential buildings with more than 50 units, commercial centers or office buildings that are more than 100,000 square feet, as well as primary, secondary schools or tertiary schools. It includes cultural centers such as museums, convention centers, arenas, performance halls; industrial sites; pharmaceutical labs; airports; train stations; hospitals; nursing care facilities; senior care centers and other health care provider locations; state courts; and warehouse and distribution centers.”

Any individual who performs work on any building, structural, electric, HVAC or plumbing project – if the work requires a permit to be issued by a municipal building or construction department – wouldn’t be covered under the proposed law.

There would be some other exceptions, the bill notes:

“A successor employer may retain less than all of the affected service employees during the 90-day transition period only if the successor employer: finds that fewer service employees are required to perform the work than the predecessor employer had employed; retains service employees by seniority within each job classification; maintains a preferential hiring list of those employees not retained; and hires any additional service employees from the list, in order of seniority, until all affected service employees have been offered employment.”

Employers who violate the proposed law could be fined a maximum of $2,500 for a first offense. Multiple offenders would face fines up to $5,000 and 10 to 90 days in jail, as well as restitution and injunctive relief.

The bill’s primary sponsors in the Assembly include Gary Schaer, Britnee Timberlake and Joe Danielsen. A companion bill, S-2389, was referred to Senate Labor Committee earlier this year.

Schaer cheered the bill’s advancement last week.

“New Jersey’s working-class families have been disproportionately impacted by the pandemic – this legislation creates necessary economic stability,” the assemblyman wrote. “As the demographics and nature of working-class labor change, this legislation empowers New Jerseyans in their quest to achieve financial security.”

Critics such as the NJBIA have argued that the bill would restrict an employer’s ability to make “sound business decisions” with their service contracts, and may not “pass legal muster.” In addition, it would stand in direct conflict with New Jersey’s status as an at-will employment state, the group charged.

The NJBIA also pointed out that the state has recently passed other laws mandating the retention of employees in both the hotel and health care industries.

In August, Gov. Phil Murphy signed a bill into law that offers similar protections for health care workers, who are now guaranteed at least four months of continued employment if a hospital or nursing home changes ownership. Read More: NJ Health Care Workers Get More Job Protections With New Law

“This unsettling trend adds to New Jersey’s reputation of being overly regulated and an unfriendly place to do business,” NJBIA Vice President of Government Affairs Alexis Bailey told the Assembly Labor Committee in written testimony last week.

• See related article: Activists Outraged As NJ Senate Punts Vote On Temporary Worker Bill
• See related article: NJ Bill Would Boost Job Protections For Nannies, Gardeners, Cleaners

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