Bill to protect temporary workers narrowly passes in Senate
February 2, 2023 – Tens of thousands of temporary workers scored a long-fought victory when the New Jersey Senate narrowly passed the Temp Workers Bill of Rights A1474/S511 after months of struggle. The bill will provide protections including equal compensation, transparency in job assignment, anti-retaliation measures, and elimination of excessive fees for more than 127,000 essential temp workers who work in New Jersey.
Justice Catalyst Fellow Joseph Niver has been working on getting this bill passed since he started at Make the Road New Jersey, educating legislators and the public on what the bill does, why it's necessary, and more. According to Niver, it's “the strongest bill of its kind in the states” -- especially a provision providing equal pay for equal work between temps and direct hire employees. The bill will provide a new set of powerful enforcement tools to hold bad actors in the industry accountable and deter future bad actors as well.
“This is just the start of us getting accountability for the workers who have really suffered from abuses, whether they be OSHA violations, minimum wage, overtime, or unlawful transportation deductions. Workers have been fighting for this for decades, and now starts the process of accountability for these agencies that have recklessly broken the law.”
To read more about this incredible victory, check out this article and video.
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