TO: Members of the Senate Labor Committee

FROM: Hilary Chebra, Manager, Government Affairs, CCSNJ

RE: S-3827 (Weinberg)

The Chamber of Commerce Southern New Jersey (CCSNJ) would like to share our opposition to S-3827 (Weinberg), which provides temporary paid earned sick leave to workers during coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic to address employee leave issues. The leave provided under the bill is to be provided in addition to the earned sick leave that is already required by law.

At the start of the pandemic, there was a need to ensure that essential workers had the ability to take leave from work without penalty due to the prevalence and severity of the health crisis. The federal government recognized this need and passed legislation to address it; specifically, the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) requires certain employers to provide employees with paid sick leave or expanded family and medical leave for specified reasons related to COVID-19.

S-3827 (Weinberg) lists several situations in which an employer would be required to provide additional earned sick leave, however many of the situations listed in the bill are no longer relevant, including being subject to a federal, state, or local quarantine as the mandate to quarantine has been lifted.

As the successful deployment of the vaccine continues in New Jersey, with over 70 percent of the population vaccinated, the state has seen dwindling case numbers as the end to the pandemic is in sight. In fact, New Jersey is taking its six COVID-19 vaccine mega-sites offline through the middle of July as more than 4.2 million people have been fully vaccinated. Additionally, Governor Murphy signed legislation and an Executive Order to end the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency – further proof this legislation is no longer needed.

Businesses must be able to resume normal operations to get New Jersey’s economy back on track. As many businesses are experiencing a labor shortage, this is not the time to enable additional leave for workers – especially seeing there are so many mechanisms in place to already allow for time off if needed.

Thank you for allowing the CCSNJ to express our concerns with S-3827 (Weinberg).