In his address to NJBIA on January 27th, Commissioner Robert Asaro-Angelo outlined the many new reform laws coming to the Labor and Workforce department within the State of New Jersey. While he touched upon many important subjects, along with the many accomplishments the department has achieved within the last few months, one important new change that stuck out was the change in working papers for students coming this summer.

Originally, for a minor, there was a five step process to obtain working papers in New Jersey. The first step would be the minor seeking out a job, and gathering work papers usually from their school. From there, parents and or guardians would need to review the papers and examine the commitments and obligations the minor would be responsible for. Later, the minor's employer would need to make note of the hours the minor would be responsible for, and the income rate the minor would receive. The minor would then need to go back to their school and present the papers with a school administrator who would certify the information listed on the papers and sign them. Finally, the minor would bring the papers back to their employer and the minor would be able to begin their duties.

The overall process of obtaining and reviewing working papers were designed to support and protect the minor from any unlawful labor practices which could potentially cause harm. While this is very important and helpful, the process can be difficult and time consuming for both the minor and parents of the minor. What Commissioner Asaro-Angelo highlighted was a change which would make this process easier, while also protecting the minor in every way possible. This new solution would remove the minors school within the process, and instead all forms of work papers would come directly from the department of labor. This would make the process much shorter. Minors can become much more familiar with potential career options, while more small businesses will be able to employ minors within their company quickly. By making the process easier, the likelihood of more minors joining the workforce would increase.