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A 3521

Creates a volunteer firefighter training fund; appropriation

2025 Regular Session Introduced by Billy Jones

New Jersey would require a state heat-stress standard and employer-written prevention plans, plus enforcement tools, penalties, and a private right of action for workers.

ENACTING CLAUSE STRICKEN
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Bill Summary · A 3521

Summary — A3521 (1R): Occupational Heat Stress Standard & Prevention Program

Status: Introduced Feb 5, 2024; Assembly Labor Committee reported with amendments May 16, 2024; referred to Appropriations. (Note: legislative entry shows “ENACTING CLAUSE STRICKEN” on 2025‑09‑08.)

Purpose

To require the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development (DOLWD) to adopt an occupational heat stress standard and to establish an Occupational Heat‑Related Illness and Injury Prevention Program to protect workers from heat‑related illness and injury in indoor and outdoor workplaces.

Key provisions

  • Rulemaking: Commissioner of Labor must adopt a heat stress standard by rule (committee amendment delayed rule adoption from June 1, 2024 to June 1, 2025).
  • Employer prevention plans: Requires each employer to develop, implement, and maintain a written heat‑related illness and injury prevention plan. Employers must implement plans within 30 days of the bill’s effective date (as amended).
  • Plan content (minimums): monitoring for heat exposure; potable water (≤59°F / 15°C); paid rest breaks and access to shade or climate‑controlled cool‑down areas; emergency response procedures; limits on time of heat exposure; heat alert program tied to National Weather Service forecasts with specified mitigation actions (postpone non‑urgent tasks, increase rest/worker rotation, hydration reminders, environmental monitoring); engineering, administrative, and PPE controls; procedures for employee communication with employers about heat illness.
  • Employee participation and language access: Plans must be developed, to the extent permitted by federal law, with meaningful employee or representative participation and be written in English and the language spoken by a majority of employees where applicable.
  • Recordkeeping: Employers must preserve required records and data for at least six years (committee amendment).
  • Enforcement tools: Commissioner may issue stop‑work orders requiring cessation of operations at worksites found in violation. The bill authorizes civil fines, administrative penalties (including anti‑retaliation penalties), and potential imprisonment for violations. The fiscal materials cite monetary penalties such as $500–$5,000 per day, per employee as an example; actual penalty structure depends on final rule/text.
  • Anti‑retaliation and private right of action: Employees are protected from retaliation; the bill creates administrative penalties and a private cause of action allowing employees to sue employers (including public employers) for violations.
  • Other amendments: administrative penalties adjusted for inflation every five years; exemption for amusement parks; committee lowered temperature thresholds (specific thresholds not quoted here); committee removed references to “acclimatization” in certain contexts.

Who is affected

  • All New Jersey employers and employees (private and public, including State, county, municipal, and school district employers) who perform work in conditions with heat exposure (indoor non‑climate‑controlled and outdoor). Sectors with high risk include agriculture, construction, and other outdoor labor, though indoor workers without AC are also covered.

Fiscal and procedural impact

  • Office of Legislative Services (OLS) estimates increased State expenditures of about $1.0 million annually to establish and enforce the standard (based on the Governor’s FY2025 budget request). State and local employer compliance will cause indeterminate additional costs. Revenue impact from fines is indeterminate. The bill’s private right of action may produce additional litigation exposure and potential costs for public entities.

Timeline / Legislative notes

  • Introduced: 2024‑02‑05. Committee amendments: 2024‑05‑16 (delayed rule date to 2025‑06‑01; plan implementation within 30 days of enactment; recordkeeping; anti‑retaliation; exemptions; other changes). Legislative docket shows later referrals (e.g., Local Governments) and an entry that the enacting clause was stricken on 2025‑09‑08, a procedural action that may affect final enactment.

Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.

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