HISTORY OF LEGISLATION IN THE UNITED STATES
NEW JERSEY: KNOW YOUR RIGHTS
Currently, temporary agency workers in New Jersey mostly rely on the basic labor protections of federal and state law, with little specific legislation for them. But workers are organized and fighting for expanded protections!
Learn More About Temp Work in New Jersey:
Download the Report: Ensure New Jersey Temporary Workers Have Good Jobs With Livable Wages
We Do the Work! Surveying of temp workers in New Jersey during the pandemic reveals unsafe working conditions, unequal protections, and poverty wages for the people who we call "essential."
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Take our National Temp Worker Survey
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Share our survey and social media accounts with your temp worker friends and coworkers
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Connect with New Labor on Twitter and Facebook - they're the worker-led organization fighting for temps in NJ!
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GET CONNECTED IN NEW JERSEY TO HELP PASS NEW LAWS FOR TEMP WORKERS!
WHAT YOU CAN DO
MAKE A COMPLAINT
After taking the temp work survey, make a specific complaint against a temporary staffing agency and propose an action. Temp Worker Justice may be able to provide assistance or connect you with a free legal referral.
NEW JERSEY TEMP WORKER LAWS
Temporary agencies in NJ are required to register annually with the New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs, pay a small fee, and may be required to post a $1,000 bond. Administrative code 13:45B-12.3 prevents staffing agencies from requiring workers to use transportation arranged by agencies to and from worksites. But that's it.
Fortunately, the state legislature is now considering significant reforms. In May 2019, Assembly Bill 5246 was referred to the Assembly Labor Committee and would:
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Notify temp workers of the agency's billing rate for their labor
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Provide written notice to temp workers with details about their job, pay, hours, and safety requirements
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Establishes a minimum of 4 hours pay for every daily assignment
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Eliminate agency fees for transportation, check cashing, credit reports, or drug tests of any kind
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Cap non-compete and conversion fees prior to 60 days
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Eliminate non-compete and conversion fees after 60 days
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Track temp-to-perm conversions at each agency
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Track demographic information of temp workers and job applicants to monitor for discrimination
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Protect temp workers from retaliation for exercising their rights
Assembly Bill 5246 never passed but workers are trying again!
For questions about your rights or to share your experience, take the confidential temp work survey. Contact us to help get new laws protecting temp workers passed in New Jersey. The Temp Worker Justice team will review your workplace situation - we are here to help!
New Jersey staffing agencies including large national and international firms like LaborReady (PeopleReady), Kelly Services, and Select Staffing (EmployBridge), and smaller firms like Brickforce and On Target.
TEMPORARY JOBS IN NEW JERSEY
At least 127,000 people in New Jersey are working through a temporary staffing agency. These insecure jobs are growing at a rate 3x faster than overall employment in NJ, putting NJ family's economic security at risk. The growth of these lower-wage, fewer benefit temporary jobs is affecting nearly every industry and every occupation.
In NJ, 2.5% of all jobs are temp jobs. Traditionally the temporary staffing industry filled administrative / clerical positions and day labor. Today, the highest concentrations of temp workers are in logistics work in warehouses and trucking.
But this work is not just industrial. Higher wage jobs are also being temped out. Throughout the healthcare industry, particularly in nursing and homecare, the use of staffing agencies has become a new norm. Federal and local government agencies subcontract to temp agencies. Information technology (IT) positions, even when there is a permanent need within companies, are outsourced to temp agencies.
DOWNLOAD THE REPORT: Ensure New Jersey Temporary Workers Have Good Jobs With Livable Wages