Exempts certain workers and organizations from Domestic Workers' Bill of Rights.

S3604

SENATE, No. 3604

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

222nd LEGISLATURE

�

INTRODUCED FEBRUARY 19, 2026

Sponsored by:

Senator� ANTHONY M. BUCCO

District 25 (Morris and Passaic)

Senator� GORDON M. JOHNSON

District 37 (Bergen)

SYNOPSIS

���� Exempts certain workers and organizations from
Domestic Workers� Bill of Rights.

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT

���� As introduced.

��

An Act
concerning domestic workers and amending P.L.2023,
c.262.

����
Be It
Enacted
by the Senate and General Assembly of
the State of New Jersey:

���� 1.��� Section 2 of P.L.2023,
c.262 (C.34:11-70) is amended to read as follows:

���� 2.��� As used in P.L.2023,
c.262 (C.34:11-69 et al.):

���� "Casual work" means
work that is:

���� (1)�� irregular, uncertain, or
incidental in nature and duration; and

���� (2)�� different in nature from
the type of paid work in which the worker is customarily engaged.

���� "Domestic services"
means services of a household nature and performed by an individual in or about
a private home on a permanent or temporary basis and includes services
performed by a domestic worker.

���� "Domestic worker" or
"worker" means hourly and salaried employees, full-time and part-time
individuals, and temporary individuals and is narrowly construed to mean any
worker who:

���� (1)�� works for one or more
employers; and

���� (2)�� is an individual who
works in residence for the purposes of providing any of the following services:
caring for a child; serving as a companion or caretaker for a sick,
convalescing, or elderly person or a person with a disability; housekeeping or
house cleaning; cooking; providing food or butler service; parking cars;
cleaning laundry; gardening; personal organizing; or for any other domestic
service purpose, provided that the term domestic worker does not include:

���� (a)�� A family member, with
"family member" meaning a spouse, child, parent, sibling, aunt,
uncle, niece, nephew, first cousin, grandparent, grandchild, father-in-law,
mother-in-law, son-in-law, daughter-in-law, stepparent, stepchild, stepbrother,
stepsister, half-brother, or half-sister, whether the individual is related by
blood, marriage, or adoption;

���� (b)�� An individual primarily
engaged in house sitting, pet sitting, or dog walking;

���� (c)�� An individual working at
a business operated primarily out of the residence, such as a home day-care
business;

���� (d)�� An individual whose
primary work involves household repair or maintenance, such as a roofer,
plumber, mason, painter, or other similar contractor;

���� (e)�� An employee of the State
or the United States;
[
or
]

���� (f)�� An individual
established as a kinship legal guardian, as defined by section 2 of P.L.2001,
c.250 (C.3B:12A-2), of a child who lives in the residence or an individual who
participates in the Kinship Navigator Program, as authorized by the Department
of Children and Families, as a caregiver of a child who lives in the residence
and receives services provided by a kinship navigator service provider
;

����
(g) An individual who is
duly licensed or certified under State law and has satisfied background check
and credentialing requirements pursuant to that licensure or certification,
including certified homemaker-home health aides;

����
(h) A home care services
agency, as defined in section 1 of P.L.1947, c. 262 (C.45:11-23) and licensed pursuant
to P.L.1971, c.136 (C.26:2H-1 et al.), including a health care service firm
registered pursuant to P.L.1989, c.331 (C.34:8-43 et al.), which performs
employee background checks; and

����
(i) A hospice care program
licensed under P.L.1997, c.78 (26:2H-79 et seq.) and subject to personnel
screening and background-check requirements.

���� "Department" means
the Department of Labor and Workforce Development.

���� "Employment agency"
means any person or entity that procures, or attempts to procure, any workers
for referral to a third party.

���� "Hiring entity"
means any employer, as defined in section 1 of P.L.1965, c.173 (C.34:11-4.1),
who employs a domestic worker and also means any person, firm, business,
partnership, association, corporation, limited liability company, or other entity,
including referral, employment, and internet based or on-demand platforms, that
provides compensation directly or indirectly to a domestic worker for the
performance of domestic services and any person or persons acting directly or
indirectly in the interest of the employer in relation to the domestic worker.
�Hiring
entity� shall not include a home care service agency, including a health care
service firm, or a licensed hospice care program, with respect to services
performed by licensed or certified workers acting within the scope of their
licensure or certification.

���� "Live-in domestic
worker" includes any individuals, who, as part of their employment, reside
in the personal residence of the employer.

���� "Referral agency"
means any person or entity that procures, or attempts to procure, directly or
indirectly through placement in a physical or virtual labor pool:

���� (1)�� employees; and

���� (2)�� after the procurement
does not continue involvement in the terms of exchange of domestic services
with the employees in any way, with the exception of the following:

���� (a)�� continuing to display,
host, or advertise, either through physical means or virtual means, the
workers' contact information, job qualifications, resume, image, or digital
profile which employers or clients can use to independently contact employees
about employment; or

���� (b)�� removing, either through
physical means or virtual means, the workers' contact information, job
qualifications, resume, image, or digital profile, which employers or clients
can use to independently contact employees, upon the mandate of any federal,
State, or local laws.

���� "Remuneration for
work" means compensation due to the work of a domestic worker, payable in
legal tender of the United States or checks on banks convertible into cash on
demand at full face value, subject to any deductions, charges, or allowances as
may be permitted by rules of the department.

���� "Written" or
"writing" means a printed or printable communication in physical or
electronic form, including a communication that is transmitted through email,
text message, or a computer system, or is otherwise sent and maintained electronically.

(cf: P.L.2023, c.262, s.2)

���� 2. This act shall take effect
immediately.

STATEMENT

���� This bill amends the Domestic
Worker�s Bill of Rights (DWBR) to clarify that certain individuals and
organizations who are licensed or certified under existing regulatory schemes
are not intended to be treated as domestic workers under the DWBR.

���� Under current law, there are
several types of workers and organization that are not considered to be
�domestic workers.� This bill adds to those exceptions: 1) an individual who is
duly licensed or certified under State law and has satisfied background check
and credentialing requirements pursuant to that licensure or certification,
including certified homemaker-home health aides regulated and subject to background
checks; 2) a home care services agency, including health care service firms,
which performs employee background checks; and 3) a licensed hospice care
program subject to personnel screening and background-check requirements.

���� Additionally, the bill
provides that a "hiring entity" within the scope of the DWBR does not
include a home care service agency, including a health care service firm or a
licensed hospice care program with respect to services performed by licensed or
certified workers acting within the scope of their licensure or certification.