Provides certain employment protections for certified doulas.
S4185 would create a new employment protection in New Jersey for certified doulas who miss work because they are needed to attend a client in active labor. The bill bars employers from discharging, harassing, discriminating against, retaliating against, or threatening to take those actions against an employee because the employee does not report to work for that reason, so long as the employee gives at least one hour of advance notice when feasible, or otherwise notifies the employer as soon as practicable.
The bill also makes clear that employers are not required to pay employees for time missed while serving as a doula, though the employee may use available vacation or sick leave. If an employer violates the bill, the affected employee or former employee may bring a civil action in Superior Court and seek common-law tort remedies, injunctive relief, reinstatement, back pay and benefits, attorney’s fees, and civil fines. The bill defines a certified doula as a trained professional who provides continuous physical, emotional, and informational support before, during, and shortly after childbirth and who is certified through a Department of Human Services-approved training program.
The bill would supplement Title 34 of the Revised Statutes by adding a specific protected leave-like accommodation for certified doulas, creating a new anti-retaliation and anti-discrimination standard tied to childbirth support duties. It would affect employers statewide by limiting discipline or adverse employment action when a certified doula must miss work to attend a birth, while preserving the employer’s ability not to pay for the missed time unless the employee uses accrued leave. It also creates a private right of action and authorizes courts to award damages, reinstatement, fees, and statutory civil penalties.
Based on the bill text and the absence of recorded committee testimony or votes, the measure appears to be framed positively as a worker-protection and maternal-support bill. Its sponsor’s approach suggests support for recognizing doula work as an important public-health-related service and protecting certified doulas from job loss or retaliation when childbirth duties conflict with regular work schedules. No formal opposition is reflected in the provided materials, but the bill’s structure indicates an effort to balance employee protections with employer notice and no-pay provisions.
The main points of potential contention are likely to be the scope of the protection, the one-hour notice requirement, and the creation of a private enforcement mechanism with civil fines and attorney’s fees. Employers may view the bill as adding administrative burden or exposing them to litigation when employees leave work unexpectedly, while supporters are likely to argue that the notice requirement and unpaid-time provision sufficiently limit employer impact. Another possible issue is the bill’s narrow coverage: it protects only certified doulas approved through a state-recognized training program, which may raise questions about who qualifies and whether the definition is too restrictive or too broad.