N.J. Admin. Code § 12:56-3.4 - Statutory minimum wage rate; training wage

(a) Commencing on January 1, 2020, an employee enrolled in an established on-the-job or other training program may, for the first 120 hours of work after having been hired, be paid a training wage of not less than 90 percent of the minimum hourly wage specified at N.J.A.C. 12:56-3.1, provided the following conditions are met:

1. The employee has been hired in, and is receiving training for, an occupation in which the employee has no previous similar or related experience;

2. The employer is not utilizing the employee being paid the training wage in a manner that causes, induces, encourages, or assists any displacement or partial displacement of any currently employed worker, including any previous recipient of the training wage, by reducing hours of a currently employed worker, replacing a current or laid off employee with a trainee, or by relocating operations resulting in a loss of employment at a previous workplace, or in a manner that replaces, supplants, competes with, or duplicates any approved apprenticeship program;

3. The employer makes a good faith effort to continue to employ the employee after the period of the training wage expires; and

4. The employer shall not hire the employee at the training wage unless there is a reasonable expectation that there will be regular employment, paying at or above the effective minimum wage, for the trainee upon the successful completion of the period of the training wage.

(b) As an alternative to, or in addition to, sanctions provided at N.J.A.C. 12:56-1.3 for any violation of N.J.S.A. 34:11-56a et seq., the New Jersey Wage and Hour Law, and/or this chapter, if an employer has made repeated, knowing violations of the provisions of this section regarding the payment of a training wage, the Department shall suspend the employer's right to pay a training wage.

(c) The employer's right to pay a training wage shall not be suspended for a period beyond three years. However, in determining the length of time for which an employer's right to pay a training wage shall be suspended, the following criteria shall be considered:

1. The seriousness of the violation;

2. The past history of previous violations by the employer;

3. The good faith of the employer; and

4. Any other factors that the Commissioner deems appropriate in determining the length of the suspension of the employer's right to pay a training wage.

(d) Whenever the Department shall find cause to suspend the right of an employer to pay a training wage, it shall notify the employer of the reason therefor, in writing, and provide the opportunity for a hearing in accordance with the Administrative Procedures Act, N.J.S.A. 52:14B-1 et seq., and 52:14F-1 et seq., and the Uniform Administrative Procedure Rules, N.J.A. C. 1:1.

(e) All requests for hearings shall be filed within 10 business days from the date of receipt of the notice.

(f) In the absence of a timely request for a hearing, pursuant to (e) above, the determination of the Department shall be deemed the final administrative action in the matter.

(g) All requests for hearings shall be reviewed by the Division of Wage and Hour Compliance in order to determine whether the dispute can be resolved at an informal settlement conference. If the review indicates that an informal settlement conference is warranted, such conference shall be scheduled. If a settlement cannot be reached, the case shall be forwarded to the Office of Administrative Law as a contested case.

Notes

N.J. Admin. Code § 12:56-3.4

Adopted by 52 N.J.R. 1562(a), effective 8/3/2020