Policy Action Project
During NEW Leadership® New Jersey, you will be divided into small groups to work on the policy action project. This is a role-playing exercise that will require you to research a current public policy issue and work with your group to prepare a presentation.
The topic for this year is the proposed bill to provide specific protections for hourly wage workers called the “Fair Workweek Act.” This bill proposes to create a set of rules and regulations to ensure certainty related to workers’ work schedules.
Details on the Legislation
Some states have begun implementing “Fair Workweek Acts” that require business owners of 250+ employees to inform hourly workers of their shift and expected working times two weeks prior to that date. In 2020, Assemblymembers Britnee Timberlake, Valerie Vainieri Huttle, William Moen, and Raj Mukherji (D) introduced NJ A2548, and Senators Nia Gill and Loretta Weinberg introduced NJ S921, the first versions of the “New Jersey Fair Workweek Act.” However, with the COVID-19 pandemic, the legislative session was interrupted and the bill never made it past being referred to their respective labor committees in the NJ State Assembly and NJ State Senate. Currently, the newer version of the bill is being discussed in the State Assembly and State Senate and legislators are hopeful that this bill will be signed into law.
The bill, NJ A807, was introduced to the Assembly at the beginning of 2022 and has been referred to the Assembly Labor Committee. Its identical bill, NJ S362, was introduced to the NJ Senate on January 11, 2022 by Senator Nia Gill, Esq. and was referred to the Senate Labor Committee. The bill is described as an act concerning fair workweek employment standards, amending various parts of the statutory law, and supplementing Title 34 of the Revised Statutes. Bills A807/S362 entail the following:
- Employers must provide employees with their average expected work hours per week including the maximum and minimum amount beforehand, length and number of work shifts two weeks prior.
- For work schedule changes that occur without advance notice, employers must pay:
- One hour of pay at regular hourly wage when an employee adds hours of work or changes the date, time, or location of a work shift
- 0.5 times the regular hourly wage when employer cancels or subtracts hours from a regular shift
- Employees can decline any work hours scheduled less than 12 hours after the end of the employees’ most recent shift
- If they consent to take the shift, they will be granted 1.5 times their regular wage
- Employers must ensure that workers have a guaranteed minimum of 9 hours scheduled for every workweek
- Employers cannot discriminate or retaliate against employees based on the number of hours they work
Supporters of the bill argue, among many things, that enacting such procedures would ensure the protection of workers. They emphasize that predictable and guaranteed scheduling leads to better economic opportunities for workers and protects them from unfair management practices. Opponents of this bill argue, among many things, that it is an attack on small businesses and would be an unfair uniform regulation on an entire business sector that has individual unique needs. They emphasize that hourly workers often seek these jobs in order to have flexible scheduling and that employees are more likely to seek schedule changes than their employers.
Details on the Policy Action Project
Action Project Schedule:
- Sunday morning, June 12: You will receive your group assignment and meet your Action Project advisors.
- Sunday morning, June 12: Meet with your group and begin developing a message and strategy.
- Sunday afternoon, June 12: Consult with policy experts, work in groups
- Monday afternoon and evening, June 13: Complete your presentation
- Tuesday morning, June 14: Action Project presentation
The Action project presentations will take place Tuesday morning, June 14th from 9:00 – 11:00 am at the Ruth Dill Johnson Crockett Building (162 Ryders Lane, New Brunswick, NJ 08901). Every person in the group must participate in the presentations on Tuesday morning.
The presentations will take two forms:
Press Conference on the steps of the State House in Trenton
A cohort of members from Groups 2 and 3 will participate in a press conference in support of and against the bill. Each group will have 10 minutes to present their statements at the press conference and 5 minutes to answer questions from the press. Members of the Eagleton Institute of Politics/CAWP staff will act as members of the press.
New Jersey Assembly Labor Committee Hearing
Group 1 will serve as members of the New Jersey Assembly Labor Committee. The committee is holding a hearing on bill A807. The Chair will open the hearing and preside over the session. A cohort of members from groups 2 and 3 will testify before the committee in favor and opposed to bill A807. Each group will have 10 minutes to present their testimony and the committee will have 10 minutes to question each group. At the end of the session the committee will vote on whether to move the bill out of committee.