Kevin Jarvis was nominated by Governor Phil Murphy to serve as the Commissioner of the NJ Department of Labor and Workforce Development in January 2026.

Jarvis previously practiced Labor Law – including contract negotiations, grievances and arbitration hearings, Unfair Labor Practice matters and Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) litigation – as a Partner with the Firm of O’Brien, Belland & Bushinsky.

Prior to that, Jarvis served almost four years as Chief of Staff at the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development. He was also a litigator with another New Jersey-based firm where he represented hundreds of workers, many from the building trades, who had been injured due to their workplace exposure to asbestos. He also represented railroad workers injured by their workplace exposure to asbestos, diesel exhaust fumes, and other carcinogens before numerous State courts. 

Jarvis earned a Bachelor of Arts in History and English from Rutgers University in 1993 and a Juris Doctor degree from Seton Hall University School of Law in 2001.