Bill Text: NJ A5218 | 2018-2019 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Requires employers to post notices of best practices and worker rights for immigrant workers who interact with immigration and other law enforcement officials.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2019-03-25 - Introduced, Referred to Assembly Labor Committee [A5218 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2018-A5218-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Assemblywoman YVONNE LOPEZ
District 19 (Middlesex)
SYNOPSIS
Requires employers to post notices of best practices and worker rights for immigrant workers who interact with immigration and other law enforcement officials.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning certain employer notices and supplementing Title 34 of the Revised Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. a. Every employer and employment service in this State shall conspicuously post notification, in a place or places accessible to all workers in each of the employer's workplaces or the employment service's locations, in a form issued by regulation promulgated by the Commissioner of Labor and Workforce Development with the consultation of, and in coordination and cooperation with, the Office of the Attorney General, detailing workers' rights under every State and federal law applicable to, and best practices for, workers who are not United States citizens, informing them of how to interact with United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and other law enforcement officials.
b. The notification shall include, but need not be limited to:
(1) a list of basic recommendations and best practices to guide workers on what to do if ICE or other law enforcement officials come to their work place or home. These recommendations and practices shall include, but need not be limited to:
(a) remain calm, do not run, and speak carefully while interacting with ICE and other law enforcement officials;
(b) do not touch officers and keep your hands where the officers can see them;
(c) do not sign anything, unless you know and understand the information within the document you are signing; and
(d) even if you think ICE or other law enforcement officials are acting unfairly or unlawfully, do not resist them; and
(2) a list of rights that applies to workers who are not U.S. citizens when being interrogated by ICE or other law enforcement officials. Workers' rights shall include, but need not be limited to:
(a) the right to remain silent. You do not need to speak to the immigration authorities or answer any questions;
(b) the right to say no to requests to search your car, house, or person. You cannot be arrested for refusing to consent to a search; and
(c) the right to speak to a lawyer. If you are detained or taken into custody, you have the right to immediately contact a lawyer. Even if you do not have a lawyer, you may tell the ICE or other law enforcement officials that you want to speak to one.
c. The employer shall provide each employee with a written copy of the notification: (1) not later than 30 days after the form of the notification is issued by the commissioner; (2) at the time of the worker's hiring, if the worker is hired after the issuance; and (3) at any time, upon the first request of the worker.
d. The commissioner shall make the notification required by this section available in English, Spanish, and any other language that the commissioner determines is the first language of a significant number of workers in the State and the employer shall post and provide the notification in English, Spanish, and any other language for which the commissioner has made the notification available and which is the first language of a significant number of the employer's workforce.
2. This act shall take effect on the 90th day next following enactment, except that the commissioner may take any anticipated administrative action in advance of that date as shall be necessary for the implementation of this act.
STATEMENT
This bill requires every employer in the State to post notification, in a place or places accessible to all workers in each of the employer's workplaces, in a form proscribed by the Commissioner of Labor and Workforce Development with the consultation of, and in coordination and cooperation with the Office of the Attorney General, of worker rights under every under every applicable State and federal law applicable to, and best practices for, workers who are not U.S. citizens, informing them of how to interact with United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and other law enforcement officials.
Under the bill, the notification must include, but need not be limited to:
a list of basic recommendations and best practices to guide workers on what to do if ICE or other law enforcement officials come to their work place or home. These recommendations and practices must include, but need not be limited to:
· remain calm, do not run, and speak carefully;
· do not touch officers and keep your hands where they can see them;
· do not sign anything, unless you know what you are signing; and
· even if you think ICE or other law enforcement officials are acting unfairly or unlawfully, do not resist them; and
a list of rights that applies to workers who are not U.S. citizens when being interrogated by ICE or other law enforcement officials. Workers' rights must include, but need not be limited to:
· the right to remain silent;
· the right to say no to searches of your car, house, or person; and
· the right to speak to a lawyer.
The bill also requires that every employer provide each employee with a written copy of the notification: (1) not later than 30 days after the form of the notification is issued by the commissioner; (2) at the time of the worker's hiring, if the worker is hired after the issuance; and (3) at any time, upon the first request of the worker.
Finally, the bill requires that the commissioner make the notification required under the bill available in English, Spanish, and any other language that the commissioner determines is the first language of a significant number of workers in the State and that the employer post and provide the notification in English, Spanish, and any other language for which the commissioner has made notification available and which is the first language of a significant number of the employer's workforce.
