N.J. could charge businesses a nickel per employee to provide workers health care during labor

N.J. could charge businesses a nickel per employee to provide workers health care during labor disputes


A bill approved by the state Assembly on Thursday would create a special fund to pay for continued health care coverage for New Jersey’s private-sector workers if they’re kept out of work by a labor dispute.

That fund would be supported by an annual, 5 cent-per-worker fee paid by all New Jersey businesses that are subject to the state’s unemployment compensation rules.

Under the proposal (A1056), a Working Family Health Security Fund within the state’s Department of Labor and Workforce Development would assist workers at risk of losing health care covering during a lockout. They would be eligible for money from the fund to pay COBRA coverage if their health insurance is canceled because of a labor dispute work stoppage that’s not preceded by a strike.

“No one should be at risk of being forced into suffocating debt because of a lack of health insurance, especially if their insurance was discontinued due to a work stoppage,” Assemblywoman Joann Downey, D-Monmouth, said in a statement.

Read more: https://www.nj.com/politics/2019/05/nj-could-charge-businesses-a-nickel-per-employee-to-provide-workers-health-care-during-labor-disputes.html