NEW JERSEY — Equal pay, discrimination, harassment and retaliation. If you work in New Jersey, especially if you’re a woman or a person of color, you should know these four concepts — and be ready to fight for them, advocates say.
The YWCA Northern New Jersey (YWCA NNJ) recently launched a campaign to educate Garden State workers about their workplace rights.
A series of four videos – funded by a grant from the New Jersey State Bar Foundation – explains how to identify and report employee rights violations in the above categories. You can watch the videos at the following links:
The YWCA NNJ launched its “Know Your Worker Rights” campaign with a virtual press conference earlier this month (Watch the video below and learn more here).
The press conference included a panel discussion with legal experts, business leaders and attorneys, including Patricia Campos-Medina, Debra Lancaster, Michele Siekerka, LaTonia Pouncey and Xiomara Guevara.
“Although we have seen some very big changes in the role of women in the workplace since our founding 100 years ago, the need for us to work towards gender equality has not changed at all during that time,” said the nonprofit’s executive director, Helen Archontou.
“With this initiative, we aim to educate individuals – particularly women and women of color – about their rights in the workplace, the workplace protections they are entitled to, and their recourse if their workplace rights are violated,” Archontou said.
The nonprofit’s efforts received recognition from Sundeep Iyer, director of the New Jersey Division of Civil Rights.
“There is an extraordinary amount of work to be done, as we have seen in some of our enforcement work, but we cannot do this work alone,” Iyer said.
“Working to protect the civil rights of all of our residents is not just a job for the Civil Rights Division, it’s not just a job for the YWCA of Northern New Jersey; it’s a job for employers to work with us,” Iyer added. “It’s the responsibility of every worker in the state to know their rights.”
The YWCA NNJ pointed to a recent state law that strengthens job protections for “domestic workers” – including child care workers, home health aides, gardeners and cleaners – as an example of why it is important to know one’s rights in the workplace. Read more: New Employment Protections for Domestic Workers in New Jersey (What You Should Know)
Other recent laws and rule changes that have impacted New Jersey workers include efforts to strengthen protections for “temporary workers,” permanent employees, immigrants and “service workers” such as janitors, security guards, airport employees and school lunch workers.
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