New Jersey (PEOSH & State Labor Laws)
New Jersey’s state plan, PEOSH (Public Employees Occupational Safety and Health), covers only public employees. Private employers are covered by federal OSHA. On top of that, New Jersey has some of the strongest state labor and right-to-know laws in the country, and many of them matter on construction sites.
- Construction
- General Industry
- Public employees
- New Jersey
Who enforces what
| Private employers | Federal OSHA (area offices in New Jersey) |
|---|---|
| State, county and municipal employees | PEOSH, run jointly by the NJ Department of Labor and Workforce Development (safety) and the NJ Department of Health (health hazards) |
| Wages, misclassification, temp workers | NJ Department of Labor and Workforce Development |
| Asbestos licensing | NJ Department of Labor (contractor licenses and worker permits) and Department of Health |
New Jersey worker protections
- Worker and Community Right to Know Act: employers must give workers information about hazardous substances, using New Jersey’s own hazardous substance list and fact sheets, in addition to federal HazCom rules. See Hazard Communication.
- Temporary Workers’ Bill of Rights (2023): temp workers placed through staffing agencies get written job information, safety training, protection from retaliation, and in many cases pay and benefits equal to the host company’s regular workers. See Temp Workers.
- Misclassification: New Jersey uses an ABC test for wage and unemployment laws, with stiff penalties for misclassifying workers as independent contractors. See Misclassification.
- Wage Theft Act: stronger penalties, liquidated damages and longer time limits to recover unpaid wages. See Wage Theft.
- Prevailing wage on public works, enforced by the Department of Labor. See Prevailing Wage.
- Earned sick leave for most workers, and family leave insurance.
- Asbestos: homeowners may remove asbestos from their own home, but anyone else must hold an NJDOL license. See Asbestos Rules by State.
Reporting and complaints
- Private-sector workers: file safety complaints with federal OSHA, and retaliation complaints with OSHA within 30 days. New Jersey’s Conscientious Employee Protection Act (CEPA) also protects whistleblowers and allows lawsuits in state court.
- Public employees: file safety complaints with PEOSH.
- Employers must report work-related deaths within 8 hours, and in-patient hospitalizations, amputations and loss of an eye within 24 hours.
Note: This page is a summary. Check the NJ Department of Labor for current rules.
Standards & references
- New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development
- NJ Department of Health: Asbestos
- Wages, leave and other worker rights: New Jersey Worker Rights
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