New Jersey ? New Jersey Gov. Jon S. Corzine plans to be among the state employees who must return to work the day after Thanksgiving for the first time in more than 40 years.

New Jersey governors have granted the day after Thanksgiving off through a proclamation going back at least until 1962, but Corzine refused.

“Like scores of other New Jerseyans, Gov. Corzine will be spending the Thanksgiving holiday with family,” Corzine spokeswoman Lilo Stainton said. “And, like the vast majority of state workers, he will also be back in the office bright and early Friday morning to serve the Garden State’s citizens.”

His Friday agenda includes staff meetings and visits to a Trenton soup kitchen and a Mercer County motor vehicle agency, a state service that has been closed the day after Thanksgiving under other governors.

New Jersey has about 80,000 state workers. Corzine’s office received more than 5,000 calls from workers protesting his decision.