Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
News
New protections for NJ's temp workers head to Murphy's desk
By
Karen Yi
Published Aug 8, 2022
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
Getty Images
By
Karen Yi
Published Aug 8, 2022
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
New Jersey’s 130,000 temp workers, who largely labor inside the state’s warehouses, are one step closer to securing better working conditions.
The state Senate convened for a rare August session on Monday to retake a vote on the so-called “temp worker bill of rights,” which threatens temp agencies that fail to follow new regulations with daily fines of $5,000. The measure initially passed both legislative chambers in June, but the Senate voted on a version of the bill that didn’t match the Assembly version, and had to redo the vote. The bill passed 21-15 on Monday.
“We were thrilled and then sad but this time is definite,” Reynalda Cruz, an organizer with New Labor and former temp worker, told Gothamist in Spanish after the vote. “There is going to be more control for temp agencies.”
The bill bans temp agencies from paycheck deductions for costs such as meals or transportation to and from work sites. It also requires temp agencies to disclose where they’re sending workers and their rate of pay. Workers who are taken to job sites but are sent home without work must also be compensated for at least four hours of work, the bill states.
If Gov. Phil Murphy signs the bill, Cruz said, that will mean extra dollars in temp workers’ paychecks. She said temp agencies often make non-itemized deductions from workers’ paychecks that lower their take-home pay to below minimum wage.
“This will mean more money for their pockets, for their families, and now that food is so expensive,” Cruz said.
Sen. Joe Cryan, D-Union, who sponsored the bill, said the measure targets protections for temp workers in New Jersey’s warehouses. They fuel a quarter of the state’s warehouse labor, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Secretarial and clerk temp workers are exempt from the measure.
Cryan said many temp workers have effectively become permanent workers at certain warehouses, returning year after year, but don’t earn the same as workers employed by those companies.
“Some agencies can get rather large, some can employ hundreds of people at a time. How many people have to fall into a loophole where they have no workers rights?” Juliet Meneses, a member of Make the Road New Jersey, told Gothamist.
She said the bill “gives the workers an ability to actually put their foot down and be like, ‘These are the things you are supposed to provide for me.’”
A representative for the New Jersey Staffing Alliance didn’t immediately respond to an emailed request for comment Monday afternoon, but previously warned the bill would jeopardize jobs by discouraging companies from using temp workers due to the new state requirements.
Tagged
temp agency
new jersey
Karen Yi
Karen Yi covers homelessness and poverty. She joined the WNYC and Gothamist newsroom in 2020. Before that, Karen covered Newark for the Star-Ledger and spent almost a decade working for newspapers in New Jersey and Florida. She grew up in Miami and has a dog named Cashew. Got a tip? Email [email protected] or Signal 917-589-1460.
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE news
High-ranking NYC officials to testify in ex-buildings boss Eric Ulrich's corruption trial
Manhattan prosecutors say Ulrich’s predecessor at the buildings department will testify in the trial against him.
By
David Brand
Published Oct 19, 2026 at 3:47 p.m. ET
Mamdani launches new team to help NYers keep SNAP, Medicaid benefits
Nearly 1 million in the city risk losing benefits as a result of new federal restrictions.
By
Caroline Lewis
News
Mamdani launches new team to help NYers keep SNAP, Medicaid benefits
Nearly 1 million in the city risk losing benefits as a result of new federal restrictions.
By
Caroline Lewis
Riders at 53rd St. station where man was fatally shot say they worry about gun violence
By
Ramsey Khalifeh
These are the NYC neighborhoods that will get free 2-K next fall
By
Karen Yi
Early Addition: Get to know Wanda, the donkey in the Met's 'La Bohème'
By
James Ramsay
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .