New Jersey Workers’ Compensation Domestic Workers Act

The “Domestic Workers’ Bill of Rights” was signed by Governor Murphy in January 2024. There has been no fanfare about this bill, which quietly came into effective July 1, 2024. The bill protects domestic workers who provide in-home services to private households, including child care, house cleaning, care for elderly or disabled individuals, and cooking, whether hired by the household or an agency. It addresses a broad range of rights and employment protections, such as anti-discrimination and anti-harassment rights, privacy rights, and written contract requirements, regardless of immigration status. 

Within the bill is a written contract requirement. However, this does not apply to a worker who works less than five hours per month or does “casual” work, which is defined as work that is “irregular, uncertain, or incidental in nature and duration, and different in nature from the type of paid work in which the worker is customarily engaged.” The contract must be written in the worker’s primary language, i.e., Spanish, Chinese, etc.

Under this bill, domestic workers are covered under workers’ compensation, unemployment, temporary disability and family leave insurances. If more than $1,000 was paid, there may be additional obligations for the employer, such as obtaining employer registration, payroll contributions and workers’ compensation insurance.

Certain workers in private households are not protected, such as family members, state or federal employees, and home-based daycare. Also, certain jobs are not protected, such as house/pet sitters or repair/maintenance workers.

Despite the lack of fanfare and statewide notice, the burden is on employers to notify workers of their rights under this bill. Again, it is unclear how an average private household would be or become aware of the bill. There was no notice provided by the state or homeowners’ insurance carriers, though that may change. 

This bill may cause a rise in workers’ compensation claims filed against homeowners. And while some workers may be hired through an agency, this may give rise to an issue of dual employment. There may be a dual employer argument if the household contracts with an agency for the worker and they both determine the terms, including schedule, pay, etc. But, if the household does not handle the employment terms, they may not be considered an employer. 

_{What’s Hot in Workers’ Comp, Vol. 29, No. 3, March 2025, is prepared by Marshall Dennehey to provide information on recent legal developments of interest to our readers. This publication is not intended to provide legal advice for a specific situation or to create an attorney-client relationship. We would be pleased to provide such legal assistance as you require on these and other subjects when called upon. ATTORNEY ADVERTISING pursuant to New York RPC 7.1 Copyright © 2025 Marshall Dennehey, all rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reprinted without the express written permission of our firm. For reprints or inquiries, or if you wish to be removed from this mailing list, contact tamontemuro@mdwcg.com.}