Official Site of The State of New Jersey

Domestic workers include nannies, child care providers, home care workers or caregivers to seniors and people with disabilities, house cleaners, cooks, and gardeners. They work in a private home, whether they are hired directly by the household or by an agency. Some live in their employers’ homes and many serve multiple clients.

You are entitled to the minimum wage and regular wage payments.

• In New Jersey, most domestic workers (except for casual and part-time babysitters), including home health care workers and live-in domestic workers, are entitled to the state minimum wage and overtime, which is 1.5 times your hourly rate of pay for hours worked over 40 hours/week. Example: If you are paid $20 an hour regularly, then you must be paid $30 an hour (1.5 x $20) for every hour you work in excess of 40 hours each week.
• Minimum wage is $13 per hour as of 1/1/2022 and will increase annually to $15 per hour by 2024. For employers with fewer than 6 employees, minimum wage is $11.90 per hour as of 1/1/22 and will increase annually to $15 by 2026.
• An employer must schedule payday regularly, and employees must be paid at least twice a month and no more than 10 days after the end of the pay period.
• If employment ends, the worker must be paid by the next regularly scheduled payday.
• An employer is not allowed to force a worker to accept direct deposit of their wages.
• Casual and part-time babysitters (refers to workers who do childcare on an irregular basis and not for a living) are not entitled to New Jersey’s state minimum wage, nor overtime rights.
• Casual and part-time babysitters (who work 20 hours or less per week) are not entitled to the federal minimum wage or overtime. In some circumstances, workers can exceed 20 hours per week and still be exempt from both minimum wage and overtime if the nature of the work is intermittent and of a casual nature. If a worker believes their right to the federal minimum wage has been violated, they should contact the USDOL Wage and Hour Division in NJ at 609-538-8310 (Southern NJ) or 908-317-8611 (Northern NJ).

Under New Jersey law, an employer is permitted to credit toward any wages due the fair value of food and lodging that is provided. They must keep records of the actual costs to the employer.

• The food and lodging credit would count towards calculating your wages and determining your regular rate of pay when calculating any overtime that may be applicable. Note that an employer need not take a credit for food and lodging and the decision to do so is made by the employer. It is typically done to take a credit toward the employer’s minimum wage obligation.
• Example: Your hourly wage is $7.00 per hour, and your employer is taking a weekly food credit of $100 and a weekly lodging credit of $300. During the week in question you work 48 hours. You would earn $336 in wages ($7.00 per hour X 48 hours), plus the $400 food/lodging credit, for a total of $736. To determine the overtime rate, you would divide $736 by 48 hours, which yields a regular hourly rate of $15.33 per hour. For the 8 hours of overtime you are due the additional halftime rate of $7.67 per hour (half of $15.33 per hour), which equals $61.36. Therefore, you would be due $397.36 ($336.00 + $61.36) in actual wages, for the week.
• Your employer cannot make a credit if the food or lodging primarily benefits them instead of you. In general, lodging would be considered to primarily benefit your employer if you provide round-the-clock care, or if your sleep or off-duty time is regularly interrupted to perform work for the employer; for example, a live-in nanny for an infant, or a home care worker whose client needs constant care.
• Allowable credits for food and lodging are limited to the “fair” value: The employer cannot charge you more than the actual cost. They’re not allowed to make a profit. If the fair value is zero or if it’s not possible to determine the market value, then they cannot charge you. In addition, if the lodging is not to code, for example, lacks heat or electricity, your employer cannot charge you.

New Jersey law states that the time an employee is required to be at their place of work should be counted as hours worked and therefore this time is to be paid.

• If employees can leave their workplace to go about private matters, then only the time spent working counts for wage payment.
• If an employee is called to work by the employer, they must be paid for at least one hour, even if they are sent home immediately.
• If an employee is called to work so frequently or if the employee’s on-call time is so restricted that they cannot use the time effectively for private matters, the waiting time counts as hours worked.
• Live-in domestic workers and other employees who have irregular on-duty hours must be paid for at least 8 hours of each day on duty.

Sleeping time is regulated for workers on duty for more than 24 hours.

• Under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act, employees who are on duty for more than 24 hours at a time must be paid for the full time, including sleep and meal periods, unless the employer and employee make an agreement to exclude sleeping time.
• A sleeping exclusion agreement is only valid if the employer provides adequate sleeping facilities, the sleep-time exclusion is limited to eight hours, and the employee is able to get an uninterrupted night of sleep (meaning at least five hours of sleep).
• If the employee cannot get five hours of sleep, the entire scheduled sleeping period counts as hours worked.
• Live-in domestic workers, who live on the employer’s premises, are not considered to be working or on duty for the whole time they are on the employer’s premises.
• More information can be found here.
• If a domestic worker believes their federal right to sleeping time has been violated, they would need to call the USDOL Wage and Hour Division in NJ at 609-538-8310 (Southern NJ) or 908-317-8611 (Northern NJ).

Keep track of the hours you worked, pay, and employer’s contact information.

You can make a complaint online or call 609-292-2305.

A trusted person can help file a complaint or email us on your behalf. NJDOL also has multilingual staff who can help.

NJDOL can issue penalties and fines against employers that do not comply with the law.

Worried your employer might take action against you for using or asking about your workplace rights? Our laws protect you from retaliation by a current or former employer.

Your identity and other personally identifiable information are protected from disclosure to your employer and others, with limited exceptions. For more information, click here.

Our Division of Workers' Compensation handles all matters regarding injuries sustained while on the job.

You may also wish to consult a workers' compensation attorney.

• Paid Sick Leave: up to 40 hours of Earned Sick Leave under NJ law (employer can decide to provide 40 hours up front or worker accrues at 1 hour per 30 hours worked).

• Unemployment Insurance: if you lose your job or work hours through no fault of your own. You must have earned a certain amount and be authorized to work in the U.S. Learn more at myunemployment.nj.gov.

• NJ Family Leave Insurance & Temporary Disability Insurance: if you cannot work because you must care for your own or a loved one’s illness or injury, bond with a new child, or recover from pregnancy/childbirth. You must have earned a certain amount to be eligible, and the application requires a valid social security number. Learn more about these programs at myleavebenefits.nj.gov.

• Job-protected family leave: to care for a child due to a public health emergency school or daycare closure during a state of emergency; care for a family member, or someone who is the equivalent of a family member, with a serious health condition or who has been isolated or quarantined because of suspected exposure to a communicable disease; or care for or bond with a child, as long as the leave begins within 1 year of the child’s birth or placement for adoption or foster care. Learn more about the NJ Family Leave Act at njcivilrights.gov.