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S4443 FISCAL ESTIMATE
LEGISLATIVE FISCAL ESTIMATE
SENATE, No. 4443
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
222nd LEGISLATURE
DATED: JUNE 29, 2026
SUMMARY
Synopsis:
Clarifies overtime compensation requirements for certain
public employees engaged in law enforcement and fire protection activities.
Type of Impact:
Potential annual State and local cost savings.
Agencies Affected:
Department of Labor and Workforce Development; State and
local agencies which employ law enforcement or fire protection personnel.
Office of
Legislative Services Estimate
Fiscal Impact
Annual
Potential State Cost Savings
Indeterminate
Potential Local Cost Savings
Indeterminate
�
The Office of Legislative Services (OLS) finds that the bill
would potentially result in annual cost savings for the State and local
governments.� The bill addresses ambiguity in the application of State wage and
hour laws to certain employees engaged in fire protection and sworn law
enforcement activities with respect to overtime compensation.
�
The bill retroactively incorporates the overtime standards in the
federal Fair Labor Standards Act to forestall legal challenges which would
require the State and other public entities to pay overtime for any week in
which an employee exceeded 40 working hours.
BILL DESCRIPTION
���� This bill establishes
standards for overtime for employees engaged in fire protection or law
enforcement activities to ensure compliance with the Fair Labor Standards Act
of 1938.
���� Specifically, the
bill provides that effective immediately and retroactive to February 4, 2019,
the State and certain public entities, 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 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 bill also
provides that the same public employers will not be deemed to have violated
overtime compensation requirements with respect to any employee by granting
compensatory time off at a rate of not less than one and one-half hours for
each hour of overtime worked, provided the compensatory time is granted in
accordance with federal law.
���� The bill further
provides that its provisions will be interpreted in a manner that is consistent
with federal law and regulations.
FISCAL ANALYSIS
EXECUTIVE BRANCH
����� None received.
OFFICE OF LEGISLATIVE SERVICES
����� The OLS finds that the bill would potentially result
in annual cost savings for the State and local governments.� The bill addresses
ambiguity in the application of State wage and hour laws to certain employees engaged
in fire protection and sworn law enforcement activities with respect to
overtime compensation.�
����� A recent decision by the Appellate Division of the New
Jersey Superior Court applied the overtime standards of the New Jersey Wage and
Hour Law to employees in fire protection and sworn law enforcement activities.�
The State overtime standards provide that employees are entitled to one and
one-half times their regular hourly wage for hours worked in excess of 40 hours
in a single workweek. �The federal overtime standards offer more flexibility;
within a 28-day work period fire protection employees use a 212-hour threshold
before overtime is triggered, and law enforcement employees use a 171-hour
threshold.�
����� If employees in fire protection and sworn law
enforcement activities were subject to the State wage and hour overtime standards,
impacted State and local government employers would likely be required to pay
greater amounts of overtime compensation or hire more employees.
����� The bill retroactively incorporates the federal
overtime standards to forestall legal challenges which would require the State
and local entities to pay overtime for any week in which an employee exceeded
40 working hours.�
Section:
Commerce, Labor and Industry
Analyst:
John Gaudioso
Associate Fiscal Analyst
Approved:
Thomas Koenig
Legislative Budget and Finance Officer
This legislative fiscal estimate has been produced by the
Office of Legislative Services due to the failure of the Executive Branch to
respond to our request for a fiscal note.
This fiscal estimate has been prepared pursuant to P.L.1980,
c.67 (C.52:13B-6 et seq.).