Religious or Political Meetings: New Jersey

This Religious or Political Meetings policy applies to employees in New Jersey under N.J. Stat. § 34:19-9 through § 34:19-14 and limits when you can require employees to attend meetings or receive communications that are primarily intended to share your organization's opinions about religious or political matters. It also protects employees from discipline or retaliation for opting out or for raising a good-faith concern, while still allowing you to provide legally required information, run voluntary discussions, and deliver job-related and compliance training.

The History Behind Religious or Political Meetings Policies in New Jersey

Captive Audience Meetings exist in a familiar tension in U.S. labor law: employers want to make their case, but employees may not want to sit through it. Federal labor law has generally allowed mandatory meetings about unions and workplace issues as long as the employer avoids threats, coercion, or promises of benefits tied to organizing.

New Jersey took a different approach long ago. In 2006, it passed a law limiting an employer's ability to require employees to attend meetings (or listen to communications) that are primarily about the employer's opinions on "political" or "religious" matters, and it protected employees from retaliation if they refused. At the time, "political matters" was defined broadly, but it did not expressly name labor organizing.

That changed in 2025. P.L.2025, c.138 amended the statute so "political matters" now explicitly includes the decision to join or support a labor organization or association, making clear that mandatory employer meetings about union organizing can trigger the opt out protections. For multi state employers, this is one reason many adopt a single, consistent approach to these meetings across states, rather than running a different playbook everywhere.

Which Law is the Religious or Political Meetings Policy Meant to Comply With?

If you create and distribute a Religious or Political Meetings Policy for your New Jersey-based employees, it is in an effort to comply with New Jersey's N.J. Stat. § 34:19-9, N.J. Stat. § 34:19-10, N.J. Stat. § 34:19-11, N.J. Stat. § 34:19-12, N.J. Stat. § 34:19-13, N.J. Stat. § 34:19-14.

How to Write a New Jersey-Specific Religious or Political Meetings Policy

• Start with "why" and introduce the concept that employees can choose whether to receive your organization's political or religious views.
• State that your organization won't require employees to attend meetings or receive communications intended to express political or religious opinions.
• Explain that employees may opt out of political or religious meetings or messages without job-related consequences.
• Define what counts as "political" topics for purposes of the policy.
• Prohibit retaliation or threats for raising a good-faith concern about a possible policy violation.
• Clarify that the policy doesn't restrict legally required notices, voluntary meetings, casual employee conversations, or job-required and legally required communications.
• Include a path for employees to raise questions or report concerns about potential violations.

When to Include this Policy in Your Employee Handbook

The law does not require you to publish a policy or issue a specific notice. That said, you still have to comply with the requirements that apply to you as an employer. 

This is a "depends on your workplace" policy. Include it if you offer the benefit, operate in a setting where this comes up, have a state-specific rule that differs from your national approach, or you've had issues in this area before. If you already have a clear all-employee policy that covers the same ground (and it meets New Jersey's requirements), you may not need a separate policy here. 

Other Considerations

The law applies to New Jersey employers who have at least 1 employee in the US.

Exceptions

None.