NJ Changes Workplace, Child Care Rules Amid COVID

TRENTON, NJ — New Jersey employers will no longer be required to keep their offices staffed at a minimum level or accommodate remote work now that the state continues to emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic.

In addition, child care limits are being returned to their pre-pandemic levels immediately, giving parents who are being called back to office work a place for their children to go, Gov. Phil Murphy said Wednesday during his coronavirus press conference.

The executive order relaxing workplace rules takes effect June 4.

Under the order, employers will be able to allow employees who can verify they are vaccinated to forgo masks in the office. The goal is to give private employers more flexibility as they return to more normal business operations, Murphy said.

State employees will continue to be required to mask up, Murphy said.

“We encourage all employers to do the right things for their specific work environments,” he said. “While we are rescinding some requirements, that doesn’t mean we aren’t expecting you to be flexible and work with employees, particularly those who are juggling family obligations such as child care.”

Group limits of 15 on child care are being returned to their pre-pandemic regulated limits effective immediately.

"We know how critical access to child care is for many working families especially for working moms,” Murphy said. “Restoring these limits to their pre-pandemic standard is an important piece of restoring our economy as well as peace of mind.”

The change comes as masking and social distancing requirements on other indoor spaces are being lifted. Masks will no longer be required for entry into restaurants, stores and other indoor spaces as of Friday.

But masks will still be required indoors and outdoors at child care centers. It was one of the few exceptions to the rule that Murphy announced on Monday. Read more: NJ To Lift COVID-19 Indoor Mask Order, With Some Exceptions

Spaces where masks will continue to be required include health care and long-term care facilities, correctional facilities, homeless shelters, public transit (airplanes, buses, trains), transit hubs (airports, bus and train stations), public-facing state offices such as Motor Vehicle Commission agencies and warehousing and manufacturing facilities.

Masks will also continue to be required at youth summer camps, preschools, elementary schools and secondary schools (including charter and renaissance schools).

"This is for a simple reason: Children under the age of 12 are not yet eligible to be vaccinated, and while we're making very good progress with the 12-to-15-year cohort, they've only been eligible … for less than two weeks. For these younger populations, we're just not there yet," the governor said.

Businesses can continue to require social distancing should they choose.

And although the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention only recommends that vaccinated people may toss their face masks and stop adhering to social distancing guidelines, Murphy said the state is asking people for "personal responsibility."

New Jersey Business & Industry Association President and CEO Michele Siekerka issued the following statement regarding Murphy’s updated masking and on-site workplace rules and the lifting of certain restrictions for child care facilities:

“These are positives steps in the right direction announced by Governor Murphy today, bringing much-needed clarity for businesses as our economy fully reopens.

“Providing employers the flexibility to allow vaccinated employees to forego masking and distancing in business and office settings is appropriate, as was recognized by CDC. Treating them any different than public-facing businesses only caused confusion, especially when employers in closed office-like settings can have better control of their work environment, as evidenced through their safety protocols over the better part of the past year.

“We also welcome the rescinding of the requirement to accommodate remote working arrangements and the elimination of keeping on-site staff to the minimum number of employees. As businesses return to the physical workplace, it’s critical they have the flexibility to best support their operations at their worksite.

“As it relates to New Jersey’s workforce challenges, we indeed welcome the elimination of capacity limits and group sizes at child care centers. In addition to improving the fiscal challenges faced by our childcare facilities, the lifting of these restrictions will ultimately allow more parents to return to work, as their children return to child care.

“With these and further steps, such as a “Return to Work Campaign” that provides tax credits to small businesses and enhancements to workers who come off of unemployment to return to work now, we can better jumpstart our economic recovery.”

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