Q. Do temporary workers have workplace protections in New Jersey?
A. Yes. On February 6, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy signed Assembly Bill No. A1474 / S511 (also known as the Temporary Workers’ Bill of Rights). The Bill of Rights establishes several new labor and employment protections for the state’s 125,000+ temporary workers.
New Protections
The Bill of Rights introduced several protections for temporary laborers, defined in the law as workers who contract for employment in a designated classification placement with a “”temporary help service firm.”” A temporary help service firm (more commonly known as a staffing firm or a temp agency) assigns temporary workers to the firm’s clients to handle temporary or excessive workloads.
The largest change is the introduction of state oversight to the placement of temporary workers by staffing firms. Under the new law, all placements must be certified by the director of the division of consumer affairs in the Department of Law and Public Safety. The certification process requires a form and a certification fee. Firms that fail to comply with the certification requirements may be suspended.
In addition, the Bill of Rights requires staffing firms to pay temporary workers the same rate of pay and equivalent benefits as a permanent employee of the third-party client. Staffing firms are no longer permitted to charge temporary workers fees for transport to and from a placement or job site. In addition, firms may not deduct pay for...
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