Request for Gov. Murphy to Conditionally Veto Temp Workers Bill to Fix Flaws That Could Cause Temp Worker Job Loss
Request for Gov. Murphy to Conditionally Veto Temp Workers Bill to Fix Flaws That Could Cause Temp Worker Job Loss
Trenton, NJ – September 20, 2022 — The NJ Staffing Alliance (NJSA) requests that Governor Murphy conditionally veto the Temp Workers Bill of Rights A-1474/ S-511, to allow the fixing of several flaws that would place undue hardship on temporary staffing agencies and potentially force their closure and loss of jobs for thousands of temp workers.
The conditional veto is the last opportunity for Governor Phil Murphy to make changes to this bill, enabling preservation of the bill’s objectives while protecting the state’s valuable temporary staffing industry that facilitates thousands of jobs and benefits workers and the state’s economy.
“The Temp Workers Bill of Rights addresses numerous very important issues that will improve the work environment for temp workers, but it contains several problematic areas for which we have advocated changes and have been ignored,” stated the New Jersey Staffing Alliance. “The Bill in its current form could tip some staffing agencies, particularly smaller ones, to shut their doors, which could cause drastic reductions in the 500,000 temporary employees New Jersey staffing firms supply to every industry and job category in the state that generates almost $6 billion dollars in the state’s economy.”
The New Jersey Staffing Alliance added, “We have flagged four areas that create an unreasonable administrative cost burden for staffing agencies that we ask Governor Murphy to address this bill before it becomes law and threatens the existence of the entire temp staffing industry. Let’s work together for a reasonable compromise that will benefit temp workers, employers and the staffing agencies that bring them together.”
Four Critical Amendments Requested to Make This Bill Workable for all Parties
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Issue: Bill requires temporary staffing firms to pay wages and equivalent benefits as its clients’ full-time workforce, and makes clients liable for this.
Request: delete this section
Reasons: Clients will NOT share confidential business and proprietary compensation information for their full-time employees with third parties due to competitive reasons and they will not take on this legal responsibility for providing this to clients. It would be an administrative burden and near impossible for clients to enroll and de-enroll short-term temporary employees who may only be there for days or weeks in the same benefits programs as their full-time workforce, particularly when some benefits have a lag time before taking effect. Expected consequence of this portion of legislation is that Clients will no longer utilize staffing firms or temp employees, eliminating many temp jobs and pathways to full-time or flexible employment for the individuals the bill is supposed to protect and benefit. Additionally, temp staffing firms who have their own pay scales for categories of work will now be required to have a program of pay and benefits that are adjustable based on the individual client — an impossible administrative burden on the entire temporary staffing industry that could lead to the demise of staffing agencies which exist to provide job opportunities for the unemployed. In fact, the industry already pays competitive hourly pay rates to attract and retain temporary employees.
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Issue: Employee right to choose payroll payment cycle
Request: Delete this section
Reason: No other New Jersey industry or employers are required to allow their individual employees to designate the frequency of payroll payment. Payroll platforms aren’t even designed for this level of user customization. Prevalent industry practice is to pay temporary employees on a weekly basis, while a few pay bi-weekly, similar to client payroll cycles, which are not controlled by employee requests.
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Issue: State regulating the hiring of temporary staff by clients and placement fee
Request: Delete section
Reasons: The state should not be in the middle of a staffing firm/client business negotiation. Virtually every staffing firm’s client contracts, as an industry practice, provides a pathway for the client to hire the temporary laborer and pay a negotiated fee that rewards the staffing firm for finding and assigning this individual to the firm.
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Issue: Discrepancy in “Temporary Labor” and “Temporary Laborer” definitions
Request: Consolidate the two definitions under “Temporary Laborer” to ensure that the segment limitations apply to the entire bill.
Reason: The limitations in “Temporary Labor” definition do not apply to the “temporary Laborer” definition
“The NJ Staffing Alliance exists to advocate for the success and growth of the NJ staffing industry which facilitates thousands of temporary jobs in the state. We advocate for fair pay, working conditions and benefits for workers and work tirelessly to eradicate the bad actors who tarnish the reputation of the temporary staffing industry,” NJSA confirmed. “As all of New Jersey’s businesses and public entities continue to face workforce shortages, we emphatically state that this bill, without the noted recommended amendments, will significantly harm and reduce the ability of the temporary staffing industry to serve the citizens of New Jersey.“
Please join the NJSA in this fight by contacting Governor Murphy at protectnjjobs.com and submitting an email to the governor requesting that he conditionally veto bill A-474/S-511 for the above reasons.
