ASSEMBLY LABOR COMMITTEE

STATEMENT TO

ASSEMBLY, No. 442

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

DATED: FEBRUARY 5, 1996

      The Assembly Labor Committee reports favorably Assembly Bill No. 442.

      This bill provides guidelines for the establishment and support of employee assistance programs designed to help resolve employee problems which may affect work performance, including marital and family problems, emotional problems, alcohol abuse, drug abuse, compulsive gambling, financial problems, and medical problems. Research and experience have shown that such programs provide substantial benefits to employers, employees, their families and the public. This bill permits any public employer to contract with a service provider to establish an employee assistance program through a negotiated agreement with the majority representative of the employees or through the adoption of a policy which conforms to the requirements of this act.

      The bill requires that information regarding services provided to an employee through an employee assistance program be confidential, unless an employee provides a written waiver. The confidentiality requirement applies to all information related to the services provided to the employee by the program, except that if the employee accepts a referral by the employer for assistance during normal working hours with pay, the employer is entitled to know whether the employee has kept the appointment and the amount of time of the appointment.

      This bill requires that services provided under each program be available to employees and their dependents, that the imposition of charges on employees or dependents to participate be prohibited, that participation be voluntary and that employer actions may not be taken against employees just for choosing not to participate.

      This bill was pre-filed for introduction in the 1996 session pending technical review. As reported, the bill includes the changes required by technical review which has been performed.