The Senate Labor Committee decided not to vote as planned Monday on legislation, strongly opposed by NJBIA, which would have required the state’s smallest employers to comply with the job reinstatement provisions of the New Jersey Family Leave Act.
Under the bills, A-3451/S-2950, the employee threshold that determines whether a business must provide job protection to a worker who takes up to 12 weeks of family leave would be lowered from the current 30 employees to five, after a two-year phase in. Although both bills were listed on the Senate Labor Committee agenda for action on Monday, it was announced after the meeting began that they would not be voted on.
In a press statement Monday prior to the committee meeting, NJBIA Chief Government Affairs Officer Christopher Emigholz had reiterated NJBIA’s strong opposition to the bills, noting that small employers are not in the same position as large employers are to provide job-protection coverage after a worker’s prolonged absence.
“Under this expanded Family Leave bill, the smallest of our employers would be required to not only protect a worker’s job, no matter what their performance level, but ensure that they come back to the same exact position they left before going on leave,” Emigholz said.
“If an employee doesn’t return to that same job, they would have a right to sue their employer under the bill. Those litigation costs would come at a time when small businesses are already challenged by increased wage costs, supply costs, and energy costs. It isn’t right.”
Emigholz said small businesses should be able to retain the right to make worker decisions that are best for the survival and prosperity of their business.
“Think about the current employee for a small business who steps up for the person going out on expanded leave and shows they can handle job responsibilities better than the person who went out on leave,” Emigholz said.
“What if that temp worker you were just required to spend all this added money on to train turns out to be a far more productive or effective worker than the person taking leave? Shouldn’t that employer not have the right to make that determination? This bill effectively says ‘no.’”
In 2008, Gov. Jon Corzine signed the New Jersey Family Leave Act that struck a balance between worker protections and credible business concerns, based on months of negotiation between lawmakers.
Emigholz said this bill threatens that compromise amid even more cost challenges for New Jersey’s smallest employers.
“The expansion of this law removes the option for business owners to actually make practical decisions amid incredible cost burdens here in New Jersey,” Emigholz said.
