NJ Workers Should Know These 4 Rights On The Job (VIDEOS)

NEW JERSEY — Equal pay, discrimination, harassment and retaliation. If you’re a worker in New Jersey, especially if you’re a woman or person of color, these are four concepts that you should know – and be ready to fight for, advocates say.

The YWCA Northern New Jersey (YWCA NNJ) recently launched a campaign that aims to educate Garden State employees about their rights on the job.

A series of four videos – funded by a grant from the New Jersey State Bar Foundation – explains how to recognize and report workplace rights violations in the above categories. You can watch the videos at the following links:

• Equal pay
• Discrimination
• Harassment
• Retaliation

The YWCA NNJ kicked off their “Know Your Employee Rights” campaign with a virtual news conference earlier this month (watch the video below, and learn more here).

The news conference included a roundtable discussion with legal experts, business leaders and advocates, including Patricia Campos-Medina, Debra Lancaster, Michele Siekerka, LaTonia Pouncey and Xiomara Guevara.

“Although we’ve seen some very big changes in the roles of women in the workforce since we opened our doors 100 years ago, the need for us to advocate for gender equity has not changed at all over that time,” said the nonprofit’s CEO, Helen Archontou.

“Our goal for this initiative is to educate individuals – especially women and women of color – about their rights in the workplace, workplace protections that are available to them, and their recourse if their workplace rights have been violated,” Archontou said.

The nonprofit’s effort got a thumbs-up from Sundeep Iyer, director of the New Jersey Division on Civil Rights.

“There is an extraordinary amount of work to do, as we’ve seen through some of our enforcement work, but we can’t do any of that work alone,” Iyer said.

“The work of protecting the civil rights of all of our residents isn’t just a job for the division on civil rights, it isn’t just a job for the YWCA of Northern New Jersey; it’s a job for employers to work in partnership with us,” Iyer added. “It’s the responsibility of every employee in the state to know their rights.”

The YWCA NNJ pointed to a recent state law that beefs up job protections for “domestic workers” – including child care providers, home health aides, gardeners and house cleaners – as an example of why it’s important to know your rights on the job. Read More: New Job Protections Start For NJ Domestic Workers (What To Know)

Other recent laws and rule changes that have impacted New Jersey workers include efforts that boost protections for “temporary workers,” employees who are paid with a salary, immigrant workers and “service workers” such as janitors, security staff, airport workers and school food employees.

• See Related: NJ Temporary Worker ‘Bill Of Rights’ Survives Another Court Challenge
• See Related: Thousands More New Jersey Workers Now Qualify For Overtime Pay
• See Related: NJ Businesses That ‘Threaten’ Immigrant Workers Will Face Penalties
• See Related: New Jersey ‘Service Workers’ Get More Layoff Protections Under New Law

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