The plight of New Jersey Toys "R" Us workers who lost their jobs when the Wayne-based retailer filed for bankruptcy and shuttered its stores across the country has drawn the attention of state lawmakers who want to increase protections for workers caught up in mass layoffs.

A bill approved by the state Senate Commerce Committee on Thursday would require New Jersey employers with at least 100 full-time employees provide their workers 90 days notice before a large layoff or a plant closing or transfer that will put at least 50 people out of work. Current law requires they give 60 days notice.

The bill (S3170) also requires businesses to pay their employees one week’s severance for every year of service, regardless of whether the employer provided that required notice. In the event an employer doesn’t meet its obligation to give 90 days notice, employees would be entitled to four weeks additional severance.

The bill says also that severance pay should be treated like wages that an employee has “earned in full."

More than 30,000 workers nationwide lost their jobs, including some 2,000 in New Jersey, when the famous retail giant closed its doors. Employees were initially let go without severance, though two of the private equity funds that owned Toys R’Us, facing public pressure, have since established a $20 million severance fund.

Ex-workers say they’re owed $75 million in promised severance pay.

“In the event of corporate losses and bankruptcies, the first people to think of, the first people to protect, must be the employees,” state Sen. Nellie Pou, D-Passaic, said in a statement after the committee approved the bill, 3-2.

“When Toys R Us went under, they left their employees out in the cold with next to no paycheck or lead time to prepare while the executives divvied up massive bonuses. This is unacceptable and the workers of New Jersey deserve better. They deserve the protections in this bill.”

The New Jersey Business & Industry Association said Thursday a plan to change the state's tough WARN Notice Law to require that employers provide 90 days' notice, plus severance pay, whenever they lay off 50 or more workers, will deter companies from locating or expanding in New Jersey.

The group, which represents 20,000 businesses here, said the severance penalty currently imposed on businesses that do not supply the required notice should not be put upon businesses that have followed the notification rules.

“This legislation is going to deter companies from even considering locating in New Jersey,” NJBIA Vice President of Government Affairs Michael Wallace warned in a statement.

Ex-Toys "R" Us workers have been active, in recent months urging the New Jersey State Investment Council that manages public pension funds to sever its relationship with the hedge fund they blame for the company’s demise.

They’ve criticized that hedge fund, Solus Alternative Asset Management, for refusing to contribute to a hardship fund and for refusing to "take any responsibility for Toys "R" Us" collapse."

Samantha Marcus may be reached at smarcus@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @samanthamarcus.