New Jersey Employment Lawyers Blog
The New Jersey Assembly Democratic Caucus will introduce a package of 25 bills, each designed to address a different aspect of the impact from the novel coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic (“Coronavirus”). Some of these impacts are directly related to the Coronavirus, but many others are the downstream, unintended but unavoidable consequences of policies and practices instituted to combat further spread of the virus. Many of these policies and practices have focused on limiting or eliminating social interaction, wherever possible. While this may be the best method of stopping the spread of the virus, it creates additional problems in the context of employment rights and protections.
Many of the proposed bills in this package impact employment in ancillary ways, however three of the bills are specifically designed to provide employment protections. If passed, these bills would provide critical benefits for employees who are impacted by the Coronavirus pandemic, including providing payment of lost wages, provision of paid sick leave, and job protections for individuals who take leave. As is discussed in detail below, these proposed bills do not apply to all employees or all situations.
“Temporary Lost Wage Unemployment Program” (A-3846)