[HISTORY: Adopted by the City Council of the City of Camden 8-9-2022 by Ord. No. MC-5404. Amendments noted where applicable.]
A.
Data collected and published by the New Jersey Division of Labor
and Workforce Development shows that unemployment rates in Camden
City have, for many years, regularly and substantially exceeded the
state's and Camden County's unemployment rates. Median household
income in the City also falls well below state and county rates.
B.
The state constitution and state law, including but not limited to
N.J.S.A. 40:48-2, authorizes municipalities to make, amend, repeal
and enforce ordinances necessary and proper for the good government,
order, and protection of persons and property, and for the preservation
of the public health, safety and welfare of the municipality and its
inhabitants.
C.
The provisions of this chapter will help identify employers, as defined
herein, who employ and compensate City residents as employees, as
defined herein. Although this chapter contains no mandate to hire
City residents or to set their compensation, this identification of
the employment and compensation of City residents will provide valuable
information to job seekers and is likely to encourage the employment
of City residents and their receipt of fair compensation. This, along
with other factors such as the provision of health insurance benefits
and other fringe benefits to employees, charitable contributions to
City organizations and other support and benefits to Camden residents,
is likely to help in alleviating the economic woes of City residents
by reducing unemployment and substandard pay. In so doing, the provisions
of this chapter promote good government, order, and protection of
persons and property and the preservation of the public health, safety
and welfare of the inhabitants of the City.
D.
Separately, the New Jersey and United States Supreme Courts both
recognize the power of lawmakers to collect data for the purpose of
wisely and effectively making legislative decisions such as ordinances
or decisions about allocating City resources. Matter of Shain, 92
N.J. 524, 532-33 (1983) ("A legislative body cannot legislate wisely
or effectively in the absence of information respecting the conditions
which the legislation is intended to affect or change; and where the
legislative body does not itself possess the requisite information —
which not infrequently is true — recourse must be had to others
who do possess it. Experience has taught that mere requests for such
information often are unavailing, and also that information which
is volunteered is not always accurate or complete; so some means of
compulsion are essential to obtain what is needed. . . [S]tate courts
quite generally have held that the power to legislate carries with
it by necessary implication ample authority to obtain information
needed in the rightful exercise of that power, and to employ compulsory
process for the purpose") (quoting McGrain v. Daugherty, 273 U.S.
135, 165, 175 (1927)); see also Eggers v. Kenny, 15 N.J. 107, 119
(1954) (those empowered to make laws "must be furnished with adequate
information on the subject; it is when they know of existing conditions.
. . that they can best determine what legislative and executive steps
should be taken for the protection of the public.")
E.
The data collected in the reports required by this chapter will help
inform public input into decisions made by the City government, and
the decisions themselves, about matters including the need for and
desirability of additional employment services, job or career training,
and additional steps to encourage hiring and payment of fair compensation
to local residents. Such decisions may include the adoption or amendment
of ordinances, the annual budgetary allocation of City resources,
and the allocation of federal and state grant funds for purposes including
the promotion and encouragement of job seekers and for the employment
and fair compensation of City residents by employers.
F.
N.J.A.C. 12:56-4.1 already requires employers to make and keep payroll
records that include the name and address of each employee and his
or her earnings of gross wages or salary. Thus, there is no undue
burden on employers in performing the data collection and submission
required by this chapter.
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the
meanings indicated:
The City of Camden.
The last day of an employer's last pay period before
June 30 and December 31 of each calendar year.
A person employed by an employer, whether full-time or part-time,
and:
Whose principal workplace is in the City; or
If the person works remotely or does not have a fixed workplace,
reports to a person or office located in the City.
For purposes of this definition, a full-time employee is defined
as a salaried or hourly employee working on average no less than 30
hours per week or 720 hours if employed throughout an entire semiannual
reporting period.
Any public or private individual, partnership, association,
corporation, company, school, university, hospital, governmental entity,
joint operating venture, or any person or group of persons acting
directly or indirectly in the interest of an employer in relation
to an employee, and:
Which maintains in the City one or more places of business,
such as an office, factory, market, warehouse, store, facility, service,
school, university, hospital, or governmental location;
Employs 25 or more employees;
For purposes of this definition, any employer receiving federal and/or state funding, subsidies and/or benefits, and/or required to obtain a license pursuant to Chapter 485 of the Code of the City of Camden is subject to this chapter.
The wage intervals periodically published by the U.S. Bureau
of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics program
that set forth ranges of pay or compensation and which are in effect
as of the respective closing date. For purposes of determining an
employee's pay band under this chapter, an employee's wage
shall be the straight-time per hour pay earned by such employee as
of the closing date and, for salaried employees, an employee's
gross annual pay shall be the employee's gross annual salary
rate as of the closing date.
For purposes of determining whether an employee resides in
the City or does not reside in the City, the payroll records of the
employer reflecting the employee's home address as provided by
the employee are determinative.
A.
Each employer, on or before February 1 and August 1 of each calendar
year, shall file with the City Clerk the Semiannual Employee Residency
Report described in this chapter. The Clerk may not charge or collect
a filing or other fee for the Report.
B.
The Semiannual Employee Residency Report due February 1 is a report
for a reporting period from July 1 to the ensuing closing date of
the prior year; the Semiannual Employee Residency Report due August
1 is a report for a reporting period from January 1 to the ensuing
closing date of that same year.
Appendix A[1] to this chapter sets forth an acceptable format for a
Semiannual Employee Residency Report. The Semiannual Employee Residency
Report shall contain:
A.
The name of the employer, both its official name and any doing-business-as
name;
B.
The reporting period of the Report;
C.
The address or addresses of the employer's place or places of
business in the City;
G.
Subject to § 323-5, and on a voluntary basis, any additional information, commentary or explanation that the employer may choose to include; and
H.
A certification by an authorized representative of the employer with
knowledge of the facts reported in the report stating that the contents
thereof are true and acknowledging the penalty for false certifications
if the contents thereof are not true.
[1]
Editor's Note: Appendix A is included as an attachment to this chapter.
Other than the name of the certifying representative required by § 323-4H of this chapter, the Semiannual Employee Residency Report shall not contain the name of any individual employee, his or her residential street address, or such employee's specific wage, salary, or compensation, or any other similar personal information about any employee.
(Reserved)
Every Semiannual Employee Residency Report required by this
chapter is public information upon being filed with the City Clerk
and shall be disclosed on demand to any person requesting the same
under applicable public record laws.
A.
If an employer is, or is required to be, licensed under Chapter 485 of the Code of the City of Camden, and such employer is required by this chapter to file a Semiannual Employee Residency Report, the failure of such employer to file a Semiannual Employee Residency Report within 30 days of its due date is a material violation of an ordinance within the meaning of § 485-20A(3) of the Code of the City of Camden.
B.
An employer who is required to file the Semiannual Employee Residency
Report but fails to do so by the date required may be fined in a proceeding
before the Municipal Court:
C.
The filing of a Semiannual Employee Residency Report that purposely, knowingly, or recklessly includes one or more materially false statements is a violation of this chapter. Either an employer filing such a report or the authorized representative signing such a report, or both, may be fined, in a proceeding before the Municipal Court, the maximum penalty provided by §§ 1-15 to 1-18 of the Code of the City of Camden for such a violation.
Each employer shall keep and maintain records sufficient to
establish the accuracy of each Semiannual Employee Residency Report
for 24 months from the due date of each such Report.
The City Clerk may adopt and publish FAQs and/or guidance documents
necessary or appropriate to interpret this chapter and to guide and
ensure compliance with this chapter. The City Clerk may establish
and provide a method for the electronic submission and filing of Reports
required by this chapter.
