January 2023 - Uniforce

New Jersey Employees Will See Minimum Wage and Disability Changes in 2023

Workforce Compliance Trends

Posted on Jan 27, 2023

Effective Jan 1, 2023, employees working in the state of New Jersey will see some positive changes with regards to higher pay and lower payroll deductions such as no temporary disability insurance.

At the beginning of this year, the statewide minimum wage increased by $1.13 to $14.13 per hour for most employees.

The increase is part of legislation signed by Governor Murphy in 2019 that raises the minimum wage to $15 per hour by 2024 for most employees. In 2018, the state’s minimum wage was $8.60 per hour. Under a law signed in 2019, the minimum wage increases by $1 per hour each year because of significant increases in the Consumer Price Index (CPI).

The New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development (NJDOL) sets the minimum wage for the coming year using the rate specified in the law or a calculation based on the CPI, whichever is higher. Once the minimum wage reaches $15 per hour, the State Constitution specifies that it continue to increase annually based on any increase in the CPI.

Agricultural employees are guided by a separate minimum wage timetable and were given until 2027 to reach the $15/hour minimum wage. Employees who work on a farm for an hourly will see their minimum hourly wage increase to $12.01, up from $11.05.

Additionally, to qualify for Unemployment, Temporary Disability, or Family Leave benefits in 2023, an applicant must earn at least $260 per week for 20 base weeks, or alternatively, earn at least $13,000.

The NJDOL announced a reduction in employee contribution rates for 2023, with Temporary Disability dropping to zero percent, from .14 percent, and Family Leave decreasing by more than half, to .06 percent, from .14 percent. In practical terms, employees who work in the state of New Jersey will save an average of $56.25 in Temporary Disability contributions and $55.25 in Family Leave contributions in 2023.

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UNIFORCE Employee Recognition Award: Travis Stiglianese

Uniforce News

Posted on Jan 18, 2023

Employee Background: The Information Technology division of UNIFORCE Staffing Solutions is pleased to announce Travis Stiglianese as our latest Employee Recognition Program Honorable Mention. Travis came to UNIFORCE in April of 2022 and has worked with glowing reviews since that time. Previously, Travis worked for almost 15 years as a desktop support technician and systems administrator for various companies such as large major health insurance carriers, health care facilities and schools. He has brought with him his relevant experience in the areas of desktop support, network operations, and help desk.

Success Story: Travis is currently working on a long-term assignment in Southern California as a Technical Product Support Analyst for an international company that manufactures video security and surveillance technology hardware. In his role, he is responsible for hardware technical support, knowledge management and hardware/software upgrades. Our client clearly values Travis as an essential member as he consistently provides large corporate and government clients technical support and exceptional customer service. Travis has the ability to support a variety of clients with different technical skills in a fast paced industry where security is required 24/7. He also addresses the technical needs of high profile clients with a variety of technology hardware and software delivery needs. The UNIFORCE team appreciates a positive and long standing professional relationship with Travis, and we wish him many more years of success in his career!!

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The US Healthcare Industry added 55,000 jobs in December, with ambulatory and hospital care leading the pack

Staffing Trends

Posted on Jan 06, 2023

Across the board, hiring still remains substantial despite the Federal Reserve Bank’s efforts to soften a strong labor market that has placed upward pressure on wages and contributed towards the current inflation crisis. Temporary staffing firms or temp agencies that provide healthcare temps or traveling nurses are noticing the increase as well.

According to the BLS, the labor force participation rate in December edged up slightly to 62.3%, still 1% below its level in February 2020 before the COVID-19 pandemic began. This measure was largely unchanged throughout 2022.

At the industry level, the largest gains were seen across leisure and hospitality, healthcare, construction, and social assistance.

Leisure and hospitality, one of the industries hardest hit by the pandemic, continued its strong recovery, with employers adding 67,000 jobs during December. An average 79,000 leisure and hospitality jobs were added or created per month across 2022, a percent of the 196,000 jobs per month gained in 2021.

Interestingly, the healthcare industry added jobs much more robustly throughout 2022 than in the year prior as the country continued recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic.

In 2021, the healthcare sector added about 9,000 jobs on average each month, compared to 49,000 each month in 2022, according to the BLS. The biggest gains were in Ambulatory healthcare (outpatient) services which accounted for approximately 30,000 of those new jobs. Hospitals and nursing and residential care facilities also saw gains, adding about 16,000 and 9,000 new jobs, respectively.

Meanwhile, medical practices or physician offices added about 10,000 new jobs in December, according to the BLS.

Temporary employment, where employers provide contractors or temps, accounts for almost 2% of total nonfarm employment. Across the temporary staffing or employment agency sector, those gains were realized a similar basis.