| Right-to-disconnect law | No statewide law |
| Electronic monitoring disclosure | Federal floor only |
| Expense reimbursement mandatory | Permissive (FLSA floor) |
| State personal income tax | Yes (10.75% top rate) |
Senator Joseph Lagana introduced S-2956 (and prior versions A-2849 in the 2019-2020 session) to give NJ employees the right to ignore after-hours work communications. None of these bills has passed. No right-to-disconnect mandate is currently in effect.
NJSA 2A:156A-4(d) makes New Jersey a one-party consent state — a participant in a communication may record it without notifying other parties. New Jersey also has the Notice of Electronic Surveillance statute (NJSA 34:6B-5 to 34:6B-10) requiring written notice to employees before electronic monitoring of company-issued communications.
New Jersey has no statute requiring reimbursement of remote-work expenses. The state minimum-wage and wage-payment laws do not affirmatively mandate expense reimbursement; FLSA's minimum-wage kickback floor is the only floor.
New Jersey explicitly does NOT allow most federal itemized deductions. The NJ Division of Taxation states: "New Jersey does not allow federal deductions, such as mortgage interest, employee business expenses, and IRA and Keogh Plan contributions." That means even if TCJA's suspension of unreimbursed employee business expenses ends after 2025 at the federal level, New Jersey will still not allow the deduction. The only viable structure for a remote worker to avoid double taxation on home-office costs is a federal accountable-plan reimbursement from the employer — which is excluded from gross income and therefore from NJ taxable wages. With a top rate of 10.75%, the gap between a taxable stipend and an accountable-plan reimbursement is materially larger than in most states.
New Jersey's top marginal rate of 10.75% applies to taxable income over $1,000,000 (the "millionaire's tax"). Below that, brackets reach 8.97% above $500,000 and step down through six lower brackets. Critically: New Jersey does NOT allow miscellaneous itemized deductions, unreimbursed employee business expenses, or most federal Schedule A items — NJ taxable income is computed on a much narrower base than federal AGI.
At-will employment: New Jersey is an at-will employment state, with relatively strong statutory exceptions: CEPA (whistleblower), LAD (anti-discrimination), and the Pierce public-policy doctrine.
New Jersey remote-work activity concentrates in Newark / Jersey City and adjacent metros, with Johnson & Johnson, Prudential Financial, Merck among the larger remote-friendly headquarters. State-level BLS Telework Supplement micro-data was not retrievable at verification time; the national figure (~19-23% any-telework) is the closest available baseline.
Top remote-hub metro: Newark / Jersey City
Notable remote-work employers headquartered in New Jersey:
Our sister site CeoCult covers the federal + New Jersey home-office tax deduction methodology in detail, including IRS Form 8829, the simplified $5/sq ft method, and the state-specific quirks for New Jersey filers.
Read the New Jersey home-office deduction guide on CeoCult →
No. New Jersey has no expense-reimbursement statute. Federal FLSA only requires reimbursement to the extent unreimbursed costs would push wages below the minimum wage. Push for an accountable-plan structure — the savings are larger in NJ because the top state rate is 10.75% and NJ does not allow you to deduct the expense yourself.
Not without written notice on company-issued systems. NJSA 34:6B-5 to 34:6B-10 requires NJ employers to give written notice before electronic monitoring of company-issued communications devices. Phone recording is one-party consent under NJSA 2A:156A-4.
Yes, and the bite is unusually painful. Flat stipends are taxable wages at the federal level (which feeds NJ wages) and NJ does not let you deduct the underlying home-office expense — so a $100/month stipend can cost you roughly $32 federal + $7-11 NJ state every month, with no offsetting deduction. An accountable-plan reimbursement is excluded from both federal and NJ wages — the right structure for any NJ remote worker.
No, not yet. Senator Lagana has introduced right-to-disconnect bills (most recently S-2956) but none has passed.