NJ Bill A2629 requiring rest and meal breaks

[jenfromjersey]

The NJ legislature has a bill sitting in committee Bill A2629 that would, if passed, require NJ employers to provide rest and meal breaks for their employees. I know it seems hard to believe that there is no law requiring this already. But there is NOT. Now, if you work in a union facility then this may not affect you. However, those of us who don't work sometimes a full 12 hour shift without a single break. We are forced to eat bites at a time at the desk while trying to continue delivering patient care. The facility does not provide staffing to cover us and I find it hard to ask my co-worker who is already overwhelmed to take on my group as well so I can take a break when she hasn't eaten either.

Anyway, I was on-line trying to find some legal support that I could take to administration only to find that NJ does not have a law that requires employers to provide breaks.

PLEASE..PLEASE..PLEASE

Pass this on to anyone you know who wants to support this bill. E-mail your district legislators and demand that they vote in favor of this bill. The link to find your legislator is:

http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/members/legsearch.asp

To read about the bill you can find it here:

http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/bills/BillView.asp

I already wrote to my legislators and received personal replies from 2 of the 3.

Thank you in advance for any support you can offer,

Thanks

[MAISY, RN-ER, BSN, RN]

If you think that working for a union facility ensures a break, you are sadly mistaken. If I could get rid of our nursing union, I would in a second! They have no backbone and do not support us!

It would be good for all of us.

Maisy

[jenfromjersey]

I welcome any and all NJ residents (not just nurses) to write to their legislators.

The reason I made reference to union facilities is because one of the legislators that responded to my letter suggested that I refer to my collective bargaining agreement for help. I kindly advised him that I have nowhere to go for help.

I'm sure that working for a union facility doesn't guarantee you a break but at least there is some reporting mechanism in place to bring grievances to. At my facility you can complain to your manager but those who have tried to speak up in our facility have had their charts scutunized and been written up for minor infractions that would normally go unnoticed. Yeah..they can go talk to a lawyer and all of that but it's a hassle and they have told me that it is easier and better for their mental health to just go with the flow and not rock the boat than deal with harassment on a daily basis.

I wish that we had a law to fall back on so we wouldn't need to deal with this BS.