New Jersey Labor Department launches multilingual hotline for domestic workers, employers
NEW JERSEY — The New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development has launched a multilingual hotline to help domestic workers and their employers access information about wages, employment contracts and workplace protections under state law.
The Domestic Workers Hotline, established under New Jersey’s Domestic Workers’ Bill of Rights, can be reached at 1-800-940-3302. The free service is staffed by representatives from the department’s Division of Wage and Hour Compliance and provides assistance in English and Spanish, with additional languages available upon request.
“Domestic workers now have a direct line to critical information about their work rights and how to exercise them,” said Acting Labor Commissioner Kevin D. Jarvis. “This hotline also helps employers better ensure they treat domestic workers with the fairness and dignity they deserve and honor their rights under state law. This is another step forward in our ongoing commitment to protecting and empowering every worker in New Jersey.”
Domestic workers include caregivers, housekeepers, nannies and others who provide services in private homes, such as child care, cleaning, cooking and assistance for older adults and people with disabilities.
Under the Domestic Workers’ Bill of Rights, which took effect July 1, 2024, domestic workers are entitled to several workplace protections, including:
- Breaks, privacy and safe working conditions.
- Protection from discrimination and harassment.
- Written employment contracts.
- Coverage under workers’ compensation, unemployment insurance, and temporary disability and family leave insurance.
- Wage and overtime protections.
The hotline allows workers and employers to ask questions about workplace rights, wage and hour requirements, and employment contracts. Representatives can also assist callers with filing complaints online.
“Following our historic victory with the passage of the New Jersey Domestic Workers’ Bill of Rights in 2024, we applaud the New Jersey Department of Labor’s launch of a multilingual hotline to help bridge the gap between domestic workers and state labor enforcement agencies,” said Tatiana Bejar, Director of Local Organizing Programs at the National Domestic Workers Alliance (NDWA). “This hotline is an important step toward building trust and making labor protections more accessible to the more than 50,000 domestic workers in New Jersey by helping them ask questions about their working conditions, understand their rights, and report potential violations with greater confidence and without fear of retaliation.”
The department first announced the hotline Oct. 29 during a “Know Your Rights & How to File a Complaint” webinar hosted by the National Domestic Workers Alliance in partnership with the state. The webinar was presented simultaneously in English, Spanish, Nepali and Haitian Creole.
According to the department, New Jersey’s workplace protection laws, including the Domestic Workers’ Bill of Rights, apply to workers regardless of immigration status.
Workers who believe their rights have been violated can file a complaint online at https://www.nj.gov/labor/myworkrights/worker-protections/domestic_workers/ or call the hotline at 1-800-940-3302 for assistance.
Domestic workers who believe they have experienced discrimination or harassment based on a protected characteristic, such as race or sex, may also file a complaint with the New Jersey Division on Civil Rights.
Complaints can be submitted through the division’s online complaint portal at https://bias.njcivilrights.gov/en-US/ or by calling 1-833-NJDCR4U (833-653-2748).
Additional information about workplace protections, employee benefits and labor laws is available at https://www.nj.gov/labor/worker-protections/myworkrights/.
