Governor Phil Murphy has signed legislation, S2078/A1675, aimed at addressing pension issues faced by New Jersey Education Association (NJEA) members who experienced career breaks longer than two years. The new law allows school employees to be away from their positions for up to 10 years before being removed from their original pension tier. Previously, returning employees were placed into Tier 5, which required them to work as much as 10 additional years and resulted in significantly reduced pensions.
The issue affected many NJEA members, particularly women who left the profession to care for family members. Upon their return, these individuals found themselves in a less favorable pension plan despite having previously earned credits in higher tiers.
The NJEA advocated for this legislative change, organizing months of member-driven efforts and sharing personal stories with lawmakers. Both chambers of the New Jersey Legislature passed the bills by wide margins—31-5 in the Senate and 69-9 in the Assembly. Governor Murphy’s signature restores affected members’ rights to their original pension tiers immediately.
In a joint statement, NJEA officers President Steve Beatty, Vice President Petal Robertson, and Secretary-Treasurer Tina Dare said:
“Today, we witnessed what union advocacy and solidarity can accomplish. Over the last year, our members spent countless hours fighting to overturn an unjust law and we won. Like almost anything worth doing, it was hard work. But our members never gave up and never took ‘no’ for an answer. This win is especially gratifying because that unjust law disproportionately punished women. We were proud that women and men in our membership came together to fight for worker justice, economic justice and gender justice. This is a landmark victory.
“This is just the beginning. Even with this important victory, the majority of our members remain in Tier 5, an inferior and unjust pension tier that forces newer members of our profession to work far longer before they can retire and to receive far less in retirement. That’s why we are ramping up our Tier 1 for Everyone campaign that will once again ensure that everyone who serves a career in public education in New Jersey can retire with the dignity and security they deserve.”
NJEA continues its efforts through its “Tier 1 for Everyone” campaign to improve retirement benefits for all public education employees.
