Essential Workers, Worker Advocates and Legislators Celebrate introduction of “Temp Worker Bill of Rights” to Protect Essential Workers 

Bill Introduced by Senator Cryan and Assemblywoman Lopez Would Provide Key Protections to Essential Workers Employed through Temp Agencies, Where they Experience High Levels of Wage Theft, Precarious Working Conditions

(December 7, 2021 – Trenton, New Jersey):  Essential workers employed through temp agencies, Make the Road New Jersey and New Labor celebrated the introduction of the Temp Workers Bill of Rights by Senator Joe Cryan and Assemblywoman Ivonne Lopez.

The legislation S4223/A6126 would create protections and accountability for staffing agencies, which employ a large and growing number of New Jerseyans, often with precarious and dangerous working conditions. The Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates there are approximately 127,000 workers employed by staffing agencies in New Jersey, where staffing agency employment is growing faster than overall employment: between 2014 and 2017, staffing jobs grew by 10.2 percent, compared to less than 3.6 percent growth for jobs overall.

“Temp” workers’ labor kept New Jersey afloat through the pandemic in key industries such as manufacturing and warehouse/logistics work. These essential workers, employed through temporary staffing agencies, are a workforce of mostly Black and immigrant workers. Often these essential workers work without basic protections and for the lowest wages, so that food and other supplies are being processed and packaged so that  others can stay safely at home. They risked their own lives to support others to shelter in place in the worst months of the pandemic.

“As a temp agency worker who worked at a warehouse during the pandemic while I was pregnant, I feared for my life and my family every day. This bill of rights will help me and my coworkers stop the abuses these temp agencies keep committing against us. We did some of the most essential work during this pandemic to allow others to stay home and shelter in place. We urge swift passage of this bill to ensure our immediate protection. Our elected officials must recognize that we deserve dignity and respect at our jobs just like any other worker in the state of New Jersey,” said Nidia Rodriguez, member leader of Make the Road New Jersey

“A temp workers bill of rights is about ensuring we have respect and dignity as workers. We need the right to know things like how much we’re getting paid, where we’re being sent, and about earned sick time that we accrue as guaranteed by law in New Jersey.   We shouldn’t have to pay for agency provided transportation where we are often packed like sardines!   And we shouldn’t be retaliated against  for speaking out against unsafe workplaces and abuses like wage theft.   We are excited that this bill exists. Now we need to fight for it to become a law! ,”- Diana Gaitan, temp worker and member of New Labor

“Throughout COVID-19, our economy has relied on essential workers, specifically temporary workers, who have put their lives on the line to provide goods and services. This workforce, which is mostly made up of minorities, also suffered the most loss of life during the pandemic. This bill ensures that these workers receive expanded protections, such as adequate pay, safe working conditions and compensated overtime,” said Senator Joseph P. Cryan (D-20) the bill’s prime sponsor in the Senate.

“No one deserves to face dangerous conditions at work nor fear for their personal safety and that of their loved ones. Temporary workers remain a vital part of our economy, and we need to ensure that this workforce has access to a robust set of protections surrounding pay, working conditions and scheduling. The passage of this bill will signal that the rights of temporary workers are important and that violating those rights has serious consequences.” said Assemblywoman Yvonne Lopez (D-19).

The legislation includes the following protections to ensure temp workers:

• Requires staffing companies to provide each temporary worker with written notice of the terms and conditions of each assignment, including details about assignment duties, pay rates, health and safety issues, and transportation provided to the worksite.
• The record-keeping requirements will reduce the incentive to engage in wage theft, discrimination, and other illegal treatment of workers.
• It prohibits staffing companies from charging certain fees to workers. Staffing agencies are prohibited from charging temp workers for expenses usually assumed by employers and for transportation that they require workers to use to and from worksites.
• Staffing companies also cannot restrict a temp worker’s ability to obtain a permanent position from a client employer. Staffing agencies should not be able to hinder workers from obtaining permanent employment. Temp jobs should be truly temporary.
• It requires wage parity between temp and permanent workers, as well as payment to temp workers who report to a worksite and are sent home without working. These provisions eliminate the enormous wage gap between permanent and temp workers and reduce client employers’ financial incentive to rely on “permatemping.”