Senate Labor Committee hears hours of testimony as critics warn S4047 would strip temp workers of benefits

The New Jersey Senate Labor Committee held a discussion-only hearing on S4047, proposed changes to the 2023 Temporary Workers' Bill of Rights. Supporters from the staffing industry said the measure would fix administrative burdens and permit New Jersey firms to compete with out-of-state agencies; opponents warned it would "gut" hard-won protections and strip temporary workers of equal benefits.

Senator Kryon opened public remarks arguing the core of the dispute centers on Section 4, which he read aloud: "Any temporary laborer assigned to work at a party client in a designated classification placement shall not be paid less than the hourly rate of pay at a party client location, which shall be defined as the party's client entry level pay." Kryon said the amendment contains "no mention of benefits, which means they're eliminated." He told the committee he supported equal pay and equal benefits for equal work and urged members to "stand together" to protect workers.

Labor advocates and community organizations then offered testimony opposing the bill. Hazel Applewhite, CEO of Ironbound Community Corporation, said the bill would "weaken[] the equal pay provision" and "eliminat[e] equal benefits entirely," warning it would trap temporary workers in a "cycle of poverty" by allowing pay determined only by an entry-level rate rather than comparable compensation. "If temporary workers are going to take you to another state to work, you should be allowed to be paid the rate that's in the state of New Jersey," she said, arguing the amendment would permit pay reductions for workers moved across state lines.

Lou Kim, executive director of New Labor, described repeated enforcement needs under the existing law and said removing termination-of-assignment as presumed retaliation would chill complaints and reduce workers' ability to recover unpaid wages. "By removing the termination of assignment as an act of presumed retaliation ... it's really going to make workers more scared to come forward and file complaints," he said.

Nadia Morrissey of Make the Road New Jersey recounted instances in which members had been "threatened with deportation" or had jobs taken away for raising safety concerns, and said S4047 would "gut the temp workers' bill of rights" by (1) weakening equal pay to near meaninglessness, (2) eliminating equal benefits, and (3) limiting the law's application to work performed within New Jersey. "Under the language in S4047, staffing agencies could ship workers across state lines ... using dangerous and costly transportation," she said.

The AFL-CIO's Eric Richardson called the proposal a "reprehensible" attempt to roll back a "hard fought" law and objected to removing disclosure requirements that help workers determine whether they are being paid properly.

Industry representatives and staffing-alliance witnesses testified in support of the proposed changes, focusing on two central claims: that the current equal-pay formula is administratively unworkable for clients and staffing firms, and that applying New Jersey law to out-of-state client sites has caused New Jersey firms to lose business. Mike Nolfo, a long-time Express Employment Professionals franchisee, said some Pennsylvania and New York client sites refuse to work with New Jersey agencies because of the current law, driving work away from New Jersey and limiting placements for local workers. "We lost virtually all of our clients in Stroudsburg ... because of this law," he said.

Industry witnesses also asked for operational changes: Susan Crowley (Horizon America Staffing, NJSA) requested allowing weekly reporting of hours instead of daily per-paystub reporting, citing payroll-system constraints and manual-entry burdens; Amy Lisdada (cohort staffing) and others urged use of a 480-hour conversion metric rather than days to simplify administration.

The hearing included repeated legal and policy questions about interstate jurisdiction and ERISA. Elyssa Frank of the New Jersey Business & Industry Association noted litigation in other venues, citing a Northern District of Illinois decision finding an equal-benefits provision violated ERISA.

Committee action: the sponsor and chairman characterized S4047 as "discussion only" for this session; no final committee vote on the underlying policy occurred during the hearing. The committee proceeded to other bills after extended testimony.

What's next: The committee did not vote on S4047 at this meeting and recorded no formal amendments on the floor; members and stakeholders indicated they expect further consultations between sponsors, labor advocates and industry groups before any future vote.

Ending: The hearing moved on after extensive oral testimony from a broad set of labor, community and industry witnesses; the committee adjourned without further action on S4047.