The Legislation Assembly Majority Leader Joseph Cryan and Assemblymen Wayne P. DeAngelo and Nelson T. Albano sponsored bill after the Charlie Brown’s restaurant chain went bankrupt and suddenly left 1,900 New Jersey workers unemployed overnight without notice, was released today by an Assembly panel.
The bill (A-3583) revises state law to require franchisors or holding companies to provide 60 days notice of closing and mass layoffs. State law currently only requires single establishments to give such notice.
“Nearly 2,000 New Jerseyans found themselves thrown out-of-work when Charlie Brown’s closed through no fault of their own, leaving them suddenly scrambling for ways to make ends meet, keep their homes, pay their bills and feed their families,” said Cryan (D-Union). “It’s only fair for companies like this to provide the same notice as everyone else when disrupting lives through mass layoffs.”
“The Legislature has been pushing hard to create jobs and improve our business climate, but employees have rights, too, especially when dealing with large franchisors who see fit to close without notice,” said DeAngelo (D-Mercer/Middlesex). “This bill only aims to ensure that workers at facilities such as this receive the equal and fair protection that they deserve. Companies just don’t close their doors overnight, and providing notice to workers is the decent thing to do.”
Albano sponsored the initial law in 2007 after the closing of the Millville Dallas Airmotive Plant.
“This is a reasonable protection for all hard-working New Jerseyans and their families,” said Albano (D-Atlantic/Cape May/Cumberland). “No one deserves to be shoved out the door in this or any economy without the fairness of advanced notice. This bill is quite simply the right thing to do for working class New Jerseyans.”
The bill would not alter the requirement in existing state law that the employer who conducts the mass layoff provide each full-time terminated employee with severance pay equal to one week of pay for each full year of employment.
The rate of severance pay shall be the average regular rate of compensation received during the employee’s last three years of employment with the employer or the final regular rate of compensation paid to the employee, whichever rate is higher.
The bill was released 5-2-1 by the Assembly Labor Committee. TLS.
are we in Russia. this is USA Capitalism & it works.
keep on propetecting the worker even after the employer goes bust. Maybe the government should hand the bankrupt employer money to pay the workers. We really need to thank the government for all they do for us and caring so much.
Please also remember to thank our Senator Menendez and Lautenberg for no more free checking and soon no more free ATM card because of the new regulation that protect us.
While you are at it, you can also thank them for all that they have done for us hard working people by making sure we have low prices on gasoline as they have been working for years on the issue. It is only $3 a gallon.
Govenment at its best protecting the hard working middle class. We all see how they voted on health insurance reform didn’t everyone notice how our premiums are dropping?
They ARE protecting us – scary thought….
These democrats are slowly but surely destroying the businesses that provide all of us jobs. This country will come apart before we expect. There will be chaos, and probably riots (unless the democrats first declare martial law).
Either way, we are doomed. Unless we can somehow vote these Democrats out of office quickly.
Who’s to say that a business knows 60 days in advance that they will close? What should they do – stay open 60 days more, and lose more money, go deeper into debt?!
Maybe we should make a law that obligates every employer place a ‘Notice of Intent to Close Within 60 Days’ into every paycheck? We could print it on the paystub – right next to the witholdings. Better yet – on the check itself – right under the name and address of the issuer.
These boys are just plain out of touch with the current reality and patently ridiculous.
“either way we are doomed ”
yes but not because of this, look what has taken place in this town!!