Assembly Commerce and Economic Development Committee Statement to Assembly, No. 4682 (2R) (June 22, 2023)

Summary

An Assembly Commerce and Economic Development Committee statement to the Second Reprint of Assembly, No. 4682, State of New Jersey, dated June 22, 2023, reporting the bill favorably with committee amendments. The bill establishes employment protections for certain service employees during changes of ownership, covering contractors that employ more than four service employees anywhere in the United States. A successor employer must retain affected service employees at a covered location for 60 days or until its service contract is terminated, whichever is earlier, and may not discharge them without just cause in that period. A court may impose a fine not exceeding $2,500 for a first violation and not exceeding $5,000 for later violations. The amendments shorten the period from 90 days to 60 days.

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ASSEMBLY COMMERCE AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE

STATEMENT TO

[Second Reprint]

ASSEMBLY,
No. 4682

with
committee amendments

STATE
OF NEW JERSEY

DATED: JUNE
22, 2023

The Assembly Commerce and Economic Development
Committee reports favorably and with committee amendments Assembly Bill No.
4682 (2R).

This bill, as amended, establishes employment
protections for certain service employees during changes of ownership.

The bill applies to contractors, including
subcontractors, who enter into a service contract or subcontract if the
contractor employs more than four service employees anywhere in the United
States. The bill does not apply to health care entities which are covered by
P.L.2022, c.101.

Under the bill, service employees are individuals
employed or assigned to a covered location on a full or part-time basis for at
least 60 days who are not managerial or professional employees or regularly
scheduled to work less than 16 hours per week in connection with:

· the care or maintenance of a building or property;

· passenger related security services, cargo related and ramp
services, in-terminal and passenger handling, and cleaning services at an
airport; or

· food preparation services at a primary or secondary school, or at
a tertiary educational institution.

Service employees covered by the bill do not include
employees performing work on certain projects requiring local permits.

The bill covers any location that is: a multi-family
residential building with more than 50 units; a commercial center or complex or
an office building or complex occupying more than 100,000 square feet; a
primary and secondary school, tertiary educational institution; a cultural
center or complex; an industrial site or pharmaceutical lab; an airport and
train station; a hospital, nursing care facility, senior care centers or other
health care provider location; a State court; or a warehouse or distribution
center.

The bill requires an authority awarding a service
contract, not less than 15 days before terminating any service contract or
contracting out services previously performed by the covered entity, or selling
or transferring any property where service employees are employed to:

· request certain information from any terminated contractors
regarding service employees;

· give successor employers information regarding service employees;

· provide written notice to collective bargaining representatives
of the affected service employees of actions affecting their employment;

· provide written notice of the actions at the affected work site;
and

· provide the affected service employees and their collective
bargaining representative with the name and address of any successor employer
or the purchaser or transferee of the property.

The bill requires a successor employer to retain an
affected service employee at a covered location for 60 days or until its
service contract is terminated, whichever is earlier. A successor employer may
not reduce any affected service employee's work hours in order to circumvent
the protections of the bill.

The bill requires a successor employer to give an
affected service employee a written offer of employment and send a copy to the
employee's collective bargaining representative, if any.

A successor employer may retain less than all of the
affected service employees during the 60-day transition period only if the
successor employer: finds that fewer service employees are required to perform
the work than the predecessor employer had employed; retains service employees
by seniority within each job classification; maintains a preferential hiring
list of those employees not retained; and hires any additional service
employees from the list, in order of seniority, until all affected service
employees have been offered employment.

Except as provided above, a successor employer is
prohibited from discharging a service employee retained pursuant to the bill
without just cause during the 60-day transition period.

These provisions of the bill do not apply if any
successor employer, on or before the termination of the service contract,
agrees to assume, and to be bound by, the collective bargaining agreement of
the awarding authority or contractor, provided that the collective bargaining agreement
provides terms and conditions for the discharge or laying off of employees.

A service employee who has been discharged or
otherwise not retained in violation of the provisions of the bill may bring an
action in a court of competent jurisdiction against a successor employer or an
awarding authority. For a first violation, the court may impose a fine not
exceeding $2,500 and, for second and subsequent violations, a fine not
exceeding $5,000. The court may order restitution and injunctive relief.

The bill provides that an offer of employment required
to be provided to an incumbent worker must be substantially similar to a form
provided in the bill.

COMMITTEE AMENDMENTS:

The committee amendments shorten, from 90 days to 60
days, the period during which the bill’s transitional employment protections
would apply.

Additionally, the amendments remove from the bill a
provision that otherwise allows a court to impose imprisonment for violating
certain provisions of the bill, and make certain technical changes.

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