When facing claims of retaliation for reports on objections about discrimination under the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination or Title VII of the Federal Civil Rights Act of 1964 (or for whistleblowing under New Jersey Conscientious Employee Protection Act), courts are often faced with the situation where there is no…
Articles Posted in Labor and Employment
“Independent Contractor” May be a Disappearing Classification for New Jersey Workers
Small business and contractors often hire independent contractors rather than employees for certain projects and services. Generally, this allows the business to avoid responsibility and expense related to withholding and paying taxes, and obtaining insurance for those workers. However, case law in New Jersey over the years has slowly been…
Third Circuit Court of Appeals Rules that Some Third-Party Payments to Employees are Properly Included in the Calculation of Overtime Rates
In the case of Secretary of United States Department of Labor vs. Bristol Excavating, Inc., the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, recently issued an important, precedential opinion on when payments by third-parties need to be included by employers in the calculation of their employees’ overtime pay…
New Jersey Supreme Court Rejects Newark School District’s Firing of Tenured Secretary in Major Public Employment Law Decision
Both New Jersey’s tenure laws in Title 18A, which govern employees in New Jersey’s public schools, and the New Jersey Civil Service Act in Title 11A and Civil Service regulations are designed to ensure that government employment decisions, such as hiring, firing, promotion, etc., are made based on merit rather…
Equal Pay Act
Governor Murphy signed New Jersey’s Equal Pay Act into law in 2018. The NJEPA takes a necessary step in making pay discrepancies in the workplace more transparent with the hopes that this will address the pay differential between white men minorities, and women. Essentially, it bars any penalty to any…
Chancery Division Issues Ruling on Valuation of Limited Liability Companies Under the New Jersey Revised Uniform Limited Liability Company Act
One of the most difficult questions in New Jersey Business law concerning the retirement of a business owner is determining the value of the owner’s share of the business which the remaining owners must pay to buy out his share. This can be difficult even if the departure itself is…
Equitable Damages in New Jersey Business Law Disputes for Breach of Contract
Types of Contract Damages In New Jersey business law disputes, there are two broad categories of damages, legal damages and equitable damages. Briefly, legal damages, or remedies in law, are money damages. Legal damages are for harms which can be compensated by the payment of money by the party which…
Decision on Objections to Fraud and Criminal Activity of Whistleblowers by New Jersey Supreme Court
Decision on Objections to Fraud and Criminal Activity of Whistleblowers by New Jersey Supreme Court In the recent case of Chiofalo v. State, Division of State Police, the Supreme Court of New Jersey issued an important employment law decision dealing with whistleblower retaliation. The Conscientious Employee Protection Act —…
Third Circuit Rules Adult Dancers Are Employees Entitled to Overtime and Minimum Wage Protections
The Federal Fair Labor Standards Act requires that employers, including New Jersey employers, pay their non-exempt employees minimum wage and overtime (the vast majority of employees are not subject to an exemptions; the major exemptions are for executive, administrative and professional employees, and outside sales). Independent contractors, however, are…
New Jersey Adds to Its Already Strong Pro-Employee Legislation With New Wage Theft Act
New Jersey passed the Wage Theft Act on August 6, 2019. It is being viewed as one of the strongest and broadest wage theft laws in the nation, and rightly so. The New Jersey Wage Theft Act increases penalties that employers may be subject to under New Jersey’s Wage and…