NJDOL Announces $2.2M in Grants to Boost Access to Worker Benefits and Protections

9/25/24 TRENTON — The New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development (NJDOL) has awarded $2.2 million through a third round of the Cultivating Access, Rights, and Equity (CARE) grant program to 24 organizations, including three collaboratives that comprise 12 of the grantees.

First launched in March 2022, the CARE grant funds outreach, education, and technical assistance programs to increase equitable access to New Jersey’s worker benefits and protections. This year’s program will fund grantees to conduct outreach and education on Paid Family and Medical Leave, Unemployment Insurance, and Work Rights, including Earned Sick Leave, minimum wage, overtime, wage theft, misclassification, and the newly enacted Temporary Workers Bill of Rights.

Awardees include community organizations, worker centers, service providers, professional associations, libraries, and faith-based groups that have demonstrated their ability to provide community-centered, culturally relevant, and language-specific programming, and link underserved residents and small businesses with government programs.

“We are proud to announce the third round of awards through our CARE Grant program, which has doubled its funding amount since its inaugural award total of $1.1 million,” said Labor Commissioner Robert Asaro-Angelo. “We are deeply grateful for the continued support of our long-standing partners and excited to welcome new collaborators as we expand our efforts to aid New Jersey’s most underserved communities.”

The CARE grant program reaches workers who need increased access to their rights and benefits, including low-wage workers, workers of color, immigrants, women, refugees, survivors of domestic/sexual violence, and young workers. The program also funds outreach and education to small and immigrant-owned businesses, and other employers that need resources and information about their obligations and compliance.

“Through outreach and workshops, Make the Road New Jersey will be able to ensure that low-wage immigrant workers know whether they are eligible for earned sick days and paid leave, whether they are being compensated appropriately under the law, and how they should be classified based on the work they perform,” said Sara Cullinane, Executive Director of Make the Road New Jersey.

“As a community action organization, it is our mission to ensure that people who are struggling with poverty or at the lower end of the income scale have access to the information and resources that they need to move themselves, and their families, up the ladder from crisis to thriving, and this funding provides an important tool in our toolbox to help make that happen,” said Mark Valli, Chief Executive Officer of Norwescap.

Grantees will build the capacity of their staff to provide information on worker benefits and protections through NJDOL trainings, engage in outreach at community events, provide one-on-one counseling and application assistance to workers, conduct presentations and trainings, run social media and text campaigns, user-test outreach tools and applications, and more.

“The CARE Grant has been instrumental in enabling Lakewood Resource and Referral Center to provide vital assistance to Ocean County residents. As a returning grantee, we’re excited to continue educating and supporting workers, breaking down language barriers, and simplifying complex processes to ensure equitable access to New Jersey Department of Labor programs,” said Sarah Sternbach, Director of Lakewood Resource and Referral Center.

The Fiscal Year 2024 CARE grantees are listed below:

The CARE program meets stipulations of the New Jersey Temporary Disability Benefits Law (P.L.1948, c.110 [C.43:21- 49]), which mandates the NJDOL to enter into contracts with community-based organizations to disseminate information about employees’ rights regarding Temporary Disability and Family Leave Insurance, as well as the New Jersey Earned Sick Leave Law (N.J.S.A. 34:11D-1), requiring the NJDOL to develop and implement a multi-lingual outreach program.

To learn more about the CARE program and other NJDOL grant opportunities, see nj.gov/labor/grants.

For more information on worker benefits and protections, please visit myworkrights.nj.gov.