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A5276
ASSEMBLY, No. 5276
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
222nd LEGISLATURE
�
INTRODUCED JUNE 15, 2026
Sponsored by:
Assemblyman� CHRIS TULLY
District 38 (Bergen)
SYNOPSIS
���� Clarifies overtime compensation requirements for
certain public employees engaged in law enforcement and fire protection
activities.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
���� As introduced.
��
An Act
concerning overtime compensation for employees in fire
protection activities and amending P.L.1966, c.113.
����
Be It
Enacted
by the Senate and General Assembly of
the State of New Jersey:
���� 1.��� Section 2 of P.L.1966,
c.113 (C.34:11-56a1) is amended to read as follows:
���� 2.��� As used in this act:
���� (a)�� "Commissioner"
means the Commissioner of Labor and Workforce Development.
���� (b)�� "Director"
means the director in charge of the bureau referred to in section 3 of this
act.
���� (c)�� "Wage board"
means a board created as provided in section 10 of this act.
���� (d)�� "Wages" means
any moneys due an employee from an employer for services rendered or made
available by the employee to the employer as a result of their employment
relationship including commissions, bonus and piecework compensation and
including the fair value of any food or lodgings supplied by an employer to an
employee, and, until December 31, 2018, "wages" includes any
gratuities received by an employee for services rendered for an employer or a
customer of an employer.� The commissioner may, by regulation, establish the
average value of gratuities received by an employee in any occupation and the
fair value of food and lodging provided to employees in any occupation, which
average values shall be acceptable for the purposes of determining compliance with
this act in the absence of evidence of the actual value of such items.
���� (e)�� "Regular hourly
wage" means the amount that an employee is regularly paid for each hour of
work as determined by dividing the total hours of work during the week into the
employee's total earnings for the week, exclusive of overtime premium pay.
���� (f)�� "Employ"
includes to suffer or to permit to work.
���� (g)�� "Employer"
includes any individual, partnership, association, corporation, and the State
and any county, municipality, or school district in the State, or any agency,
authority, department, bureau, or instrumentality thereof, or any person or group
of persons acting directly or indirectly in the interest of an employer in
relation to an employee.
���� (h)�� "Employee"
includes any individual employed by an employer.
���� (i)��� "Occupation"
means any occupation, service, trade, business, industry or branch or group of
industries or employment or class of employment in which employees are
gainfully employed.
���� (j)��� "Minimum fair wage
order" means a wage order promulgated pursuant to this act.
���� (k)�� "Fair wage"
means a wage fairly and reasonably commensurate with the value of the service
or class of service rendered and sufficient to meet the minimum cost of living
necessary for health.
���� (l)��� "Oppressive and
unreasonable wage" means a wage which is both less than the fair and
reasonable value of the service rendered and less than sufficient to meet the
minimum cost of living necessary for health.
���� (m)� "Limousine"
means a motor vehicle used in the business of carrying passengers for hire to
provide prearranged passenger transportation at a premium fare on a dedicated,
nonscheduled, charter basis that is not conducted on a regular route and with a
seating capacity in no event of more than 14 passengers, not including the
driver, provided, that such a motor vehicle shall not have a seating capacity
in excess of four passengers, not including the driver, beyond the maximum
passenger seating capacity of the vehicle, not including the driver, at the
time of manufacture. "Limousine" shall not include taxicabs, hotel or
airport shuttles and buses, buses employed solely in transporting school
children or teachers to and from school, vehicles owned and operated directly
or indirectly by businesses engaged in the practice of mortuary science when
those vehicles are used exclusively for providing transportation related to the
provision of funeral services or vehicles owned and operated without charge or
remuneration by a business entity for its own purposes.
���� (n)�� "Seasonal
employment" means employment during a year by an employer that is a
seasonal employer, or employment by a non-profit or government entity of an
individual who is not employed by that employer outside of the period of that
year commencing on May 1 and ending September 30, or employment by a
governmental entity in a recreational program or service during the period
commencing on May 1 and ending September 30, except that "seasonal
employment" does not include employment of employees engaged to labor on a
farm on either a piece-rate or regular hourly rate basis.
���� (o)�� "Seasonal
employer" means an employer who exclusively provides its services in a
continuous period of not more than ten weeks during the months of June, July,
August, and September, or an employer for which, during the immediately
previous calendar year, not less than two thirds of the employer's gross
receipts were received in a continuous period of not more than sixteen weeks or
for which not less than 75 percent of the wages paid by the employer during the
immediately preceding year were paid for work performed during a single
calendar quarter.
���� (p)�� "Small
employer" means any employer who employed less than six employees for
every working day during each of a majority of the calendar workweeks in the
current calendar year and less than six employees for every working day during
not less than 48 calendar workweeks in the preceding calendar year, except
that, if the employer was newly established during the preceding calendar year,
the employer shall be regarded as a "small employer" if the employer
employed less than six employees for every working day during all of the weeks
of that year, and during a majority of the calendar workweeks in the current
calendar year, and, if the employer is newly established during the current
calendar year, the employer shall be regarded as a "small employer"
if the employer employed less than six employees for every working day during a
majority of the calendar workweeks in the current calendar year.
���� (q)�� "Long-term care
facility direct care staff member" means any health care professional
licensed or certified pursuant to Title 26 or Title 45 of the Revised Statutes
who is employed by a long-term care facility and who provides personal care, assistance,
or treatment services directly to residents of the facility in the course of
the professional's regular duties.
����
(r) �Employee in fire
protection activities� means an employee, including a firefighter, paramedic,
emergency medical technician, rescue worker, ambulance personnel, or hazardous
materials worker, who:
����
(1) is trained in fire
suppression, has the legal authority and responsibility to engage in fire
suppression, and is employed by a fire department established or operated by
the State or any municipality, county, fire district, joint meeting or regional
service agency within the State; and
����
(2) is engaged in the
prevention, control, and extinguishment of fires or response to emergency
situations where life, property, or the environment is at risk.
(cf: P.L.2020, c.89, s.1)
���� 2.��� Section 5 of P.L.1966,
c.113 (C.34:11-56a4) is amended to read as follows:
���� 5. a. Except as provided in
subsections c., d., e. g., and i. of this section, each employer shall pay to
each of his employees wages at a rate of not less than $8.85 per hour as of
January 1, 2019 and, on January 1 of 2020 and January 1 of each subsequent
year, the minimum wage shall be increased by any increase in the consumer price
index for all urban wage earners and clerical workers (CPI-W) as calculated by
the federal government for the 12 months prior to the September 30 preceding
that January 1, except that any of the following rates shall apply if it
exceeds the rate determined in accordance with the applicable increase in the
CPI-W for the indicated year: on July 1, 2019, the minimum wage shall be $10.00
per hour; on January 1, 2020, the minimum wage shall be $11.00 per hour; and on
January 1 of each year from 2021 to 2024, inclusive, the minimum wage shall be
increased from the rate of the preceding year by $1.00 per hour.� If the
federal minimum hourly wage rate set by section 6 of the federal "Fair
Labor Standards Act of 1938" (29 U.S.C. s.206), or a successor federal
law, is raised to a level higher than the State minimum wage rate set by this
subsection, then the State minimum wage rate shall be increased to the level of
the federal minimum wage rate and subsequent increases based on increases in
the CPI-W pursuant to this section shall be applied to the higher minimum wage
rate.� If an applicable wage order has been issued by the commissioner under
section 17 (C.34:11-56a16) of this act, the employer shall also pay not less
than the wages prescribed in said order.� The wage rates fixed in this section
shall not be applicable to persons under the age of 18 not possessing a special
vocational school graduate permit issued pursuant to section 15 of P.L.1940,
c.153 (C.34:2-21.15), or to persons employed as salesmen of motor vehicles, or
to persons employed as outside salesmen as such terms shall be defined and
delimited in regulations adopted by the commissioner, or to persons employed in
a volunteer capacity and receiving only incidental benefits at a county or
other agricultural fair by a nonprofit or religious corporation or a nonprofit
or religious association which conducts or participates in that fair.
���� b. (1) An employer shall also
pay each employee not less than 1 1/2 times such employee's regular hourly rate
for each hour of working time in excess of 40 hours in any week, except that
this overtime rate shall not apply: to any individual employed in a bona fide
executive, administrative, or professional capacity; or to employees engaged to
labor on a farm or employed in a hotel; or to an employee of a common carrier
of passengers by motor bus; or to a limousine driver who is an employee of an
employer engaged in the business of operating limousines; or to employees
engaged in labor relative to the raising or care of livestock.�
���� (2)�� Employees engaged on a
piece-rate or regular hourly rate basis to labor on a farm shall be paid for
each day worked not less than the applicable minimum hourly wage rate
multiplied by the total number of hours worked.
���� (3)�� Full-time students may
be employed by the college or university at which they are enrolled at not less
than 85% of the effective applicable minimum wage rate.
����
(4)�� Effective and
retroactive to February 4, 2019, the State and any county, municipality, or
school district in the State, or any agency, authority, department, bureau, or
instrumentality thereof, including a joint meeting and a regional service
agency, shall not be deemed to have violated this section with respect to the
employment of any employee in fire protection activities or any employee in
sworn law enforcement activities, including security personnel in correctional
institutions, if:
����
(a) in a work period of 28
consecutive days the employee receives for tours of duty which in the aggregate
exceed 212 hours for fire protection activities or 171 hours for sworn law
enforcement activities compensation at a rate not less than one and one-half
times the regular hourly rate at which the employee is employed; or
����
(b) in the case of such an
employee to whom a work period of at least seven but less than 28 days applies,
in the employee�s work period the employee receives for tours of duty which in
the aggregate exceed a number of hours which bears the same ratio to the number
of consecutive days in the employee�s work period as 212 hours for fire
protection activities or 171 hours for sworn law enforcement activities bears
to 28 days, compensation at a rate not less than one and one-half times the
regular hourly rate at which the employee is employed.��
����
The foregoing shall be
interpreted consistent with the provisions of 29 U.S.C. s.207(k) and its
associated regulations.� Effective and retroactive to February 4, 2019, the
State and any county, municipality, or school district in the State, or any
agency, authority, department, bureau, or instrumentality thereof, shall not be
deemed to have violated this provision with respect to the employment of any
employee by granting compensatory time off at a rate not less than one and
one-half hours for each hour of employment for which overtime compensation is
required by this section, provided that it does so in accordance with the
provisions of 29 U.S.C. s.207(o) and its associated regulations.
���� c.���� Employees of a small
employer, and employees who are engaged in seasonal employment, except for
employees who customarily and regularly receive gratuities or tips who shall be
subject to the provisions of subsections a. and d. of this section, shall be paid
$8.85 per hour as of January 1, 2019 and, on January 1 of 2020 and January 1 of
each subsequent year, that minimum wage rate shall be increased by any increase
in the consumer price index for all urban wage earners and clerical workers
(CPI-W) as calculated by the federal government for the 12 months prior to the
September 30 preceding that January 1, except that any of the following rates
shall apply if it exceeds the rate determined in accordance with the applicable
increase in the CPI-W for the indicated year: on January 1, 2020, the minimum
wage shall be $10.30 per hour; and on January 1 of each year from 2021 to 2025,
inclusive, the minimum wage shall be increased from the rate of the preceding
year by eighty cents per hour, and, in 2026, the minimum wage shall be
increased from the rate of the preceding year by seventy cents per hour, and,
in each year from 2027 to 2028 inclusive, the minimum wage for employees
subject to this subsection c. shall be increased by the same amount as the
increase for employees subject to subsection a. of this section based on CPI-W
increases, plus one half of the difference between $15.00 per hour and the
minimum wage in effect in 2026 for employees pursuant to subsection a. of this
section, so that, by 2028, the minimum wage for employees subject to this
subsection shall be the same as the minimum wage in effect for employees
subject to subsection a. of this section.� If the federal minimum hourly wage
rate set by section 6 of the federal "Fair Labor Standards Act of
1938" (29 U.S.C. s.206), or a successor federal law, is raised to a level
higher than the State minimum wage rate set by this subsection, then the State
minimum wage rate shall be increased to the level of the federal minimum wage
rate and subsequent increases based on increases in the CPI-W pursuant to this
subsection shall be applied to the higher minimum wage rate.
���� d.��� Employees engaged on a
piece-rate or regular hourly rate basis to labor on a farm shall be paid $8.85
per hour as of January 1, 2019 and, on January 1 of 2020 and January 1 of each
subsequent year, that minimum wage rate shall be increased by any increase in
the consumer price index for all urban wage earners and clerical workers
(CPI-W) as calculated by the federal government for the 12 months prior to the
September 30 preceding that January 1, except that any of the following rates
shall apply if it exceeds the rate determined in accordance with the applicable
increase in the CPI-W for the indicated year:
���� (1)�� on January 1, 2020, the
minimum wage shall be $10.30 per hour; on January 1, 2022, the minimum wage
shall be $10.90 per hour; and on January 1 of each year from 2023 to 2024,
inclusive, the minimum wage shall be increased from the rate of the preceding year
by eighty cents per hour; and
���� (2)�� subject to the
provisions of paragraph (3) of this subsection d., minimum wage rates shall be
increased as follows: on January 1 of 2025, the minimum wage shall be increased
to $13.40, and on January 1 of each year from 2026 to 2027, inclusive, the
minimum wage shall be increased from the rate of the preceding year by eighty
cents per hour, and, in each year from 2028 to 2030 inclusive, the minimum wage
for employees subject to this subsection d. shall be increased during that year
by the same amount as the increase in that year for employees subject to
subsection a. of this section based on CPI-W increases, plus one third of the
difference between $15.00 per hour and the minimum wage in effect in 2027 for
employees pursuant to subsection a. of this section, so that, by 2030, the
minimum wage for employees subject to this subsection shall be the same as the
minimum wage in effect for employees subject to subsection a. of this section.
���� (3)�� Not later than March 31,
2024, the commissioner and the Secretary of Agriculture shall review the report
issued by the commissioner pursuant to subsection b. of section 4 of P.L.2019,
c.32 (C.34:11-56a4.10) and shall consider any information provided by the
secretary regarding the impact on farm employers and the viability of the
State's agricultural industry of the increases of the minimum wage made
pursuant to paragraph (1) of this subsection, and the potential impact of the
increases which would be set by paragraph (2) of this subsection, including
comparisons with the wage rates in the agricultural industries in other states,
and shall recommend: approval of the increases set forth in paragraph (2) of
this subsection; disapproval of the increases set forth in paragraph (2) of
this subsection; or an alternative manner of changing the minimum wage after
2024 for employees engaged on a piece-rate or regular hourly rate basis to
labor on a farm. In contemplation of the possibility that the commissioner and
the secretary are unable to agree on the recommendation required by this
paragraph, by December 31, 2021, the Governor shall appoint a public member
subject to advice and consent by the Senate, who will serve as a tie-breaking
member if needed.� The increases set forth in paragraph (2) of this subsection
shall take effect unless there is a recommendation pursuant to this paragraph
to disapprove the increases or for an alternative manner of changing the
minimum wage after 2024 for employees engaged on a piece-rate or regular hourly
rate basis to labor on a farm and the Legislature, not later than June 30,
2024, enacts a concurrent resolution approving the implementation of that
recommendation.� Beginning in 2024, the commissioner, secretary, and public
member shall meet biennially to make either a one or two year recommendation to
the Legislature for implementation by way of concurrent resolution.
���� (4)�� If the federal minimum
hourly wage rate set by section 6 of the federal "Fair Labor Standards Act
of 1938" (29 U.S.C. s.206), or a successor federal law, is raised to a
level higher than the State minimum wage rate set by this subsection, then the
State minimum wage rate shall be increased to the level of the federal minimum
wage rate and subsequent increases based on increases in the CPI-W pursuant to
this subsection shall be applied to the higher minimum wage rate.
���� e.���� With respect to an
employee who customarily and regularly receives gratuities or tips, every
employer is entitled to a credit for the gratuities or tips received by the
employee against the hourly wage rate that would otherwise be paid to the
employee pursuant to subsection a. of this section of the following amounts:
after December 31, 2018 and before July 1, 2019, $6.72 per hour; after June 30,
2019 and before January 1, 2020, $7.37 per hour; during calendar years 2020,
2021 and 2022, $7.87 per hour; during calendar year 2023, $8.87 per hour; and
during calendar year 2024 and subsequent calendar years, $9.87 per hour.
���� f.���� Notwithstanding the
provisions of this section to the contrary, every trucking industry employer
shall pay to all drivers, helpers, loaders and mechanics for whom the Secretary
of Transportation may prescribe maximum hours of work for the safe operation of
vehicles, pursuant to section 31502(b) of the federal Motor Carrier Act, 49
U.S.C.s.31502(b), an overtime rate not less than 1 1/2 times the minimum wage
required pursuant to this section and N.J.A.C. 12:56-3.1.� Employees engaged in
the trucking industry shall be paid no less than the minimum wage rate as
provided in this section and N.J.A.C. 12:56-3.1.� As used in this section,
"trucking industry employer" means any business or establishment
primarily operating for the purpose of conveying property from one place to
another by road or highway, including the storage and warehousing of goods and
property. Such an employer shall also be subject to the jurisdiction of the
Secretary of Transportation pursuant to the federal Motor Carrier Act, 49
U.S.C.s.31501 et seq., whose employees are exempt under section 213(b)(1) of
the federal "Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938," 29 U.S.C.
s.213(b)(1), which provides an exemption to employees regulated by section 207
of the federal "Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938," 29 U.S.C. s.207,
and the Interstate Commerce Act, 49 U.S.C. s.501 et al.
���� g.��� Commencing on January 1,
2020, a training wage of not less than 90 percent of the minimum wage rate
otherwise set pursuant to subsection a. of this section may be paid to an
employee who is enrolled in an established employer on-the-job or other
training program which meets standards set by regulations adopted by the
commissioner.� The period during which an employer may pay the training wage to
the employee shall be the first 120 hours of work after hiring the employee in
employment in an occupation in which the employee has no previous similar or
related experience.� An employer shall not utilize any employee paid the
training wage in a manner which causes, induces, encourages or assists any
displacement or partial displacement of any currently employed worker,
including any previous recipient of the training wage, by reducing hours of a
currently employed worker, replacing a current or laid off employee with a
trainee, or by relocating operations resulting in a loss of employment at a
previous workplace, or in a manner which replaces, supplants, competes with or
duplicates any approved apprenticeship program.� An employer who pays an
employee a training wage shall make a good faith effort to continue to employ
the employee after the period of the training wage expires and shall not hire
the employee at the training wage unless there is a reasonable expectation that
there will be regular employment, paying at or above the effective minimum
wage, for the trainee upon the successful completion of the period of the
training wage.� If the commissioner determines that an employer has made
repeated, knowing violations of the provisions of this subsection regarding the
payment of a training wage, the commissioner shall suspend the employer's right
to pay a training wage for a period set pursuant to regulations adopted by the
commissioner, but not less than three years.
���� h.��� The provisions of this
section shall not be construed as prohibiting any political subdivision of the
State from adopting an ordinance, resolution, regulation or rule, or entering
into any agreement, establishing any standard for vendors, contractors and
subcontractors of the subdivision regarding wage rates or overtime compensation
which is higher than the standards provided for in this section, and no
provision of any other State or federal law establishing a minimum standard
regarding wages or other terms and conditions of employment shall be construed
as preventing a political subdivision of the State from adopting an ordinance,
resolution, regulation or rule, or entering into any agreement, establishing a
standard for vendors, contractors and subcontractors of the subdivision which
is higher than the State or federal law or which otherwise provides greater
protections or rights to employees of the vendors, contractors and
subcontractors of the subdivision, unless the State or federal law expressly prohibits
the subdivision from adopting the ordinance, resolution, regulation or rule, or
entering into the agreement.
���� i.���� Effective on the first
day of the second month next following the effective date of P.L.2020, c.89
(C.30:4D-7cc et al.), the minimum wage for long-term care facility direct care
staff members shall be in an amount that is $3 higher than the prevailing minimum
wage established pursuant to subsection a. of this section.
(cf: P.L.2023, c.262, s.8)
���� 3.��� This act shall take
effect immediately.
STATEMENT
���� This bill establishes
standards for overtime for employees engaged in fire protection activities to
ensure compliance with the �Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938.�� Under the bill
�employee in fire protection activities� means an employee, including a
firefighter, paramedic, emergency medical technician, rescue worker, ambulance
personnel, or hazardous materials worker, who:
���� (1) is trained in fire
suppression, has the legal authority and responsibility to engage in fire
suppression, and is employed by a fire department established or operated by
the State or any municipality, county, fire district, joint meeting or regional
service agency within the State; and
���� (2) is engaged in the
prevention, control, and extinguishment of fires or response to emergency
situations where life, property, or the environment is at risk.
���� Specifically, the bill
provides that effective and retroactive to February 4, 2019, the State and any
county, municipality, or school district in the State, or any agency,
authority, department, bureau, or instrumentality thereof, including a joint
meeting and a regional service agency, will not be deemed to have violated
overtime compensation requirements with respect to the employment of any
employee in fire protection activities or any employee in sworn law enforcement
activities, including security personnel in correctional institutions, if:
���� (a) in a work period of 28
consecutive days the employee receives for tours of duty which in the aggregate
exceed 212 hours for fire protection activities or 171 hours for sworn law
enforcement activities; or
���� (b) in the case of such an
employee to whom a work period of at least seven but less than 28 days applies,
in the employee�s work period the employee receives for tours of duty which in
the aggregate exceed a number of hours which bears the same ratio to the number
of consecutive days in the employee�s work period as 212 hours for fire
protection activities or 171 hours for sworn law enforcement activities bears
to 28 days, compensation at a rate not less than one and one-half times the
regular hourly rate at which the employee is employed.��
���� The bill further provides that
its provisions will be interpreted in a manner that is consistent with federal
law and regulations. �