Bill Text: NJ A3127 | 2020-2021 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Concerns certain employer reporting requirements.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-02-24 - Introduced, Referred to Assembly Labor Committee [A3127 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2020-A3127-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Assemblyman WAYNE P. DEANGELO
District 14 (Mercer and Middlesex)
SYNOPSIS
Concerns certain employer reporting requirements.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning certain employer reporting requirements and amending P.L.1998, c.1.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. Section 12 of P.L.1998, c.1 (C.2A:17-56.61) is amended to read as follows:
12. a. All employers and labor organizations doing business in the State shall report to the department, or its designee, the following information, which shall comprise and be known as the Employee Status Report:
(1) the hiring of, or contracting with, any person who works in this State and to whom the employer anticipates paying earnings; [and]
(2) the re-hiring or return to work of any employee who is laid off, furloughed, separated, granted a leave without pay, or terminated from employment in this State; [and]
(3) any other employee hired by the employer to work in the State who was not previously employed by the employer; or was previously employed by the employer but has been separated from the prior employment for at least 60 consecutive days; and
(4) the ending of employment for an employee who is laid off, furloughed, separated, granted a leave without pay, or terminated from employment in this State, including the wages paid to the employee and the number of base weeks, as defined in subsection (t) of R.S.43:21-19, worked by the employee during the calendar quarter in which the employment ends, except that the reporting requirements under this paragraph with respect to temporary help service firms, as defined in section 1 of P.L.1989, c.331 (C.34:8-43), shall apply only to the ending of employment for an employee after a period of more than 60 consecutive days from the last date of work. For the purposes of this paragraph (4) "wages" shall not mean non-monetary remuneration.
b. An employer shall submit the information required in this subsection within 20 days of the hiring, re-hiring, [or] return to work, or ending of employment of the employee, except that an employer who transmits reports magnetically or electronically shall report every 15 days in accordance with rules adopted by the commissioner. The report shall contain:
(1) the employee's name, address, date of birth and Social Security number; and
(2) the employer's name, address, and federal tax identification number.
c. An employer who fails to report, as required in this section, shall be given a written warning by the department for the first violation and shall be subject to a civil penalty which shall not exceed: $25 per violation, or, if the failure to report is the result of a conspiracy between the employer and the employee to not supply the required report or to supply a false or incomplete report, $500.
Payment of the penalty may not be required, however, if in response to the imposition of the penalty, the person or entity complies immediately with the new hire reporting requirements. All penalties assessed under this section shall be payable to the State Treasurer and may be recovered in a summary proceeding pursuant to the "Penalty Enforcement Law of 1999," P.L.1999, c.274 (C.2A:58-10 et seq.).
d. The information provided pursuant to this section shall be shared with State agencies operating employment security and workers' compensation programs and with any other federal or State agency deemed appropriate by the commissioner.
(cf: P.L.2013, c.169, s.1)
2. This act shall take effect on the first day of the month next following enactment by at least 180 days.
STATEMENT
This bill requires employers to submit certain information to the Department of Human Services regarding employees who are terminated from employment in this State.
Under current law, employers and labor organizations doing business in the State are required to report certain information to the department regarding: (1) the hiring of, or contracting with, any person who works in this State and to whom the employer anticipates paying earnings; (2) the re-hiring or return to work of any employee who is laid off, furloughed, separated, granted a leave without pay, or terminated from employment in this State; and (3) any other employee hired by the employer to work in the State who was not previously employed by the employer; or was previously employed by the employer but has been separated from the prior employment for at least 60 consecutive days. The law requires this information to be reported to the department within 20 days of the hiring, re-hiring, or return to work of the employee (every 15 days for employers who transmit reports electronically), and provides for reported information to be shared with State agencies operating employment security and workers' compensation programs and with any other federal or State agency deemed appropriate by the Commissioner of Human Services.
This bill expands these existing reporting requirements to mandate the reporting of similar information for employees terminated from employment. Under the bill, employers and labor organizations doing business in the State are required to report to the department the ending of employment for an employee who is laid off, furloughed, separated, granted a leave without pay, or terminated from employment in this State, including the wages paid to the employee and the number of base weeks worked by the employee during the calendar quarter in which the employment ends. With respect to temporary help service firms, the reporting requirements regarding the ending of employment established under this bill only apply to the ending of employment for an employee after a period of more than 60 consecutive days from the employee's last date of work.
The bill establishes, in statute, that the employment information required to be reported to the department will comprise and be known as the Employee Status Report.
