Bill > S1075

Introduced Session

This bill, the "Farm Labor Equality Act," modifies a number of labor laws to provide farmworkers with rights and protections equal to the rights and protections provided to other workers, specifically in the areas of child labor, overtime pay, employee representation and collective bargaining, and unemployment benefits. Child labor: This bill repeals provisions of the State child labor law, P.L.1940, c.153 (C.34:2-21.1 et seq.), that currently exempt minors employed in agriculture from requirements of that law which apply to most other minors. The bill: 1. raises the minimum age that minors may work in agriculture from 12 years old to 14 years old; 2. reduces the number of hours per day that a minor may work in agriculture from 10 to 8 hours, and clarifies that various limits to work time that apply to most minors also apply to minors employed in agriculture, including not working more than six days, or 40 hours, per week, and not working before 7 a.m. or after 7 p.m,; and The bill does not change the provisions of P.L.1940, c.153 which exempt from its provisions agricultural work done by a minor in connection with the minor's own home under the minor's parent or guardian while school is not in session. Overtime pay: The bill repeals provisions of the State wage and hour law, P.L.1966, c.113 (C.34:11-56a et seq.), that currently exclude farmworkers from overtime pay, thus requiring employers to pay farmworkers 1½ times their regular wage for each hour excess of 40 hours per week, as is currently required for most other workers. Employee representation and collective bargaining: Currently, farmworkers are excluded from the protections against unfair labor practices provided to most private sector workers by the federal National Labor Relations Act (29 U.S.C. s.151 et seq.)("NLRA"), and provided to public employees by the State public employment relations law, P.L.1968, c.303 (C.34:13A-5.1 et seq.)("PERL") and the Workplace Democracy Enhancement Act, P.L.2018, c.15 (C.34:13A-5.11 et seq.) ("WDEA"). This bill brings farmworkers under protections similar to those laws, by expanding the responsibilities of the Division of Private Employment Dispute Settlement in the Department of Labor and Workforce Development regarding agricultural employment not regulated by the NLRA. It provides the division with the power to prevent specified unfair labor practices, thus providing rights to the farmworkers similar to the rights provided to other private sector workers under the NLRA, and the rights provided to public employees under the PERL and the WDEA. The bill prohibits agricultural employers and their representatives and agents from the following unfair practices: 1. Interfering with, restraining, or coercing employees in the exercise of the rights granted by the bill. 2. Dominating or interfering with any employee organization. 3. Discriminating against employees for making disclosures or otherwise exercising their rights. 4. Refusing to negotiate in good faith or sign a negotiated agreement. 5. Violating any division regulation. The bill similarly prohibits employee organizations and their representatives and agents from the following unfair practices: 1. Interfering with, restraining or coercing employees in the exercise of their rights. 2. Interfering with, restraining or coercing an agricultural employer in the selection of a representative for negotiations or grievance procedures. 3. Refusing to negotiate in good faith or sign a negotiated agreement. 4. Violating any division regulation. The division may order an offending party to cease any unfair practice and take reasonable remedial action, including, in the case of a discharge, reinstatement, paying lost wages, costs of action, and damages equal to the wages due. It is also an unfair practice under the bill for an agricultural employer to encourage or discourage employees from joining, forming or assisting an employee organization, or encourage them to end their employee organization membership or revoke authorization of the deduction of dues or fees. The division is required to order the employer to make whole the employee organization for any resulting losses to the organization. Current law, section 5 of P.L.1968, c.303 (C.34:13A-5.1), permits the New Jersey State Board of Mediation to designate a labor organization to represent employees of a private sector employer not regulated under the NLRA, if the employees select the organization in an election conforming with NLRA procedures, or, if only one labor organization seeks to represent the employees, a majority of the employees sign cards showing that they prefer that organization. The bill provides that in such cases the employee organization may petition the board to require the employer to provide a list of current employees with contact information. If the organization petitions the board for that information, the employer must also give the organization access to the employees, including allowing meetings in the workplace and employer-controlled living quarters. The bill provides that once an employee organization is designated as the employee representative, the employer must give the organization access to the employer's premises to investigate and discuss grievances and other issues, conduct meetings, and meet newly hired employees. The bill gives farmworker organizations the right to engage in publicity regarding products produced by an employer with which the organization has a dispute, including publicity asking the public to not patronize businesses distributing or selling the products. Unemployment benefits: The bill repeals provisions of the State "unemployment compensation law," R.S.43:21-1 et seq., that currently exclude farmworkers from unemployment benefits if their employer employs less than 10 farmworkers during each of 20 weeks in the preceding year or pays less than $20,000 in wages to farmworkers during any calendar quarter in the current or preceding year. This exclusion applies only to farmworkers, and may prevent laid-off farmworkers from receiving benefits even if their combined employment with multiple employers would otherwise make them eligible.

AI Summary

Committee Categories

Jim Beach (D)*,  Nilsa Cruz-Perez (D)*,  Angela Mcknight (D), 

Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate Labor Committee (on 01/13/2026)

Official Document