34:11-58.2 Joint and several liability for client employer and labor contractor; definitions.

9. a. A client employer and a labor contractor providing workers to the client employer shall be subject to joint and several liability and shall share civil legal responsibility for any violations of the provisions of State wage and hour laws or State employer tax laws, or violations of the provisions of section 10 of P.L.1999, c.90 (C.2C:40A-2) regarding compliance with State wage and hour laws or State employer tax laws, including provisions of those laws regarding retaliatory actions against employees for exercising their rights under any of those laws and provisions of those laws regarding the misclassification of workers, and both the client employer and the labor contractor may be subject to any remedy provided for violations of those laws. A client employer shall not shift to the labor contractor any legal duties or liabilities under the provisions of the "Worker Health and Safety Act," P.L.1965, c.154 (C.34:6A-1 et seq.) or "The Worker and Community Right to Know Act," P.L.1983, c.315 (C.34:5A-1 et seq.) with respect to workers supplied by the labor contractor. A waiver of the provisions of this section is contrary to public policy, and is void and unenforceable.

b. This section shall not be interpreted as:

(1) imposing individual liability on a homeowner for labor or services received at the home or the owner of a home-based business for labor or services received at the home; or

(2) restricting or limiting the rights of a client employer to recover from a labor contractor any expense to the client employer, or the rights of a labor contractor to recover from a client employer any expense to the labor contractor, resulting from any violation by the labor contractor or client employer of the provisions of State wage and hour laws or State employer tax laws, or of section 10 of P.L.1999, c.90 (C.2C:40A-2), or restricting or limiting the provisions in contracts between client employers and labor contractors regarding the recovery of expenses pursuant to this paragraph.

c. Any person acting on behalf of an employer, including a client employer or labor contractor, who violates any provision of State wage and hour laws or State employer tax laws, or any provision of section 10 of P.L.1999, c.90 (C.2C:40A-2) regarding compliance with State wage and hour laws or State employer tax laws, including any provision of those laws concerning the misclassification of workers, may be held liable as the employer for the violation. For the purposes of this section, "person acting on behalf of an employer" includes an individual acting on behalf of an employer who is an owner, director, officer, or manager of the employer.

d. As used in this section:

"Client employer" means a business entity, regardless of its form, that obtains or is provided workers, directly from a labor contractor or indirectly from a subcontractor, to perform labor or services within its usual course of business, but does not include a "contractor" as defined in section 3 of P.L.1999, c.238 (C.34:11-56.50).

"Labor contractor" means any individual or entity that supplies, either with or without a contract, directly or indirectly, a client employer with workers to perform labor or services within the client employer's usual course of business, except that "labor contractor" does not include a bona fide labor organization or apprenticeship program, or a hiring hall operated pursuant to a collective bargaining agreement.

"Usual course of business" means the regular and customary work of a business, performed within or upon the premises or worksite of the client employer, or any other place of business of the client employer for which services or labor are performed.

L.2019, c.212, s.9; amended 2019, c.374, s.2.