Some healthcare employers will feel the effects of New Jersey’s newly enacted temporary workers’ bill of rights. The bill, signed into law earlier this month by Gov. Phil Murphy (D), requires temporary workers to be paid the same average compensation rates paid to permanent employers. New Jersey is the first state to require equal pay for temporary workers, according to attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

“Our sector would benefit from more ‘permanent’” employees and less temporary workers. To the extent this bill removes barriers for providers who want to make temporary workers permanent employees, it could be helpful,” Andy Aronson, president and CEO of the Health Care Association of New Jersey, told the McKnight’s Business Daily.

“Temporary workers will now have equal rights in the workplace,” State Sen. Joseph Cryan (D) said in a statement. “This is an invisible workforce that will now be protected against the abuses of unpaid wages, unsafe working conditions, unlawful deductions and other forms of mistreatment.”

Temporary service firms are barred under the temporary workers’ bill of rights from restricting an employee from accepting another position with a permanent employer or a third-party client. Additionally, the law requires staffing agencies to register with the state, and third-party employers will be barred from utilizing temporary workers through the use of an unregistered staffing agency.

The implications of New Jersey’s temporary workers’ bill of rights are significant and controversial, according to attorney Mitchell J. Horner of Greenbaum, Rowe, Smith & Davis LLP.

“Critics asserted that requiring temporary workers to be paid equally to permanent employees would be fundamentally unfair to the permanent employees whose pay is based upon seniority and experience,” Horner wrote. “It was also argued that the bill would interfere with long-term projects that utilize a fluctuating number of employees, disrupting the use of flexible staffing.” 

“Conversely, the bill was lauded by workers’ rights advocacy groups, which claimed that temporary workers have been underpaid, denied benefits and forced to work in unsafe conditions without any proper recourse,” he added.

32BJ, the local chapter of the Service Employees International Union supported the temporary workers’ bill of rights.

“32BJ is proud to have supported the fight for this critical legislation, and to have partnered with organizations that are dedicated to making New Jersey better for all of its essential workers,” said Kevin Brown, vice president of 32BJ and New Jersey state director.