New Jersey’s Conscientious Employee Protection Act (“CEPA”) is New Jersey’s whistleblower protection law. CEPA provides perhaps the broadest and strongest legal protections in the country against whistleblower retaliation. However, it does not protect against all employee complaints that an employer is doing something it shouldn’t. In the recent case of…
We live in a time of economic turmoil. New Jersey’s unemployment rate stands at nine percent, well above the national average. Many New Jersey employees find themselves losing what they thought were secure jobs. Loss of a job can lead to devastating consequences. However, both the Federal and New Jersey…
Businesses with any New Jersey employees are responsible for withholding and paying income taxes, Medicare taxes, and Social Security, and paying payroll taxes on wages paid to their employees. However, in general, the same businesses do not have to do so when hiring independent contractors. Therefore, it may be tempting…
Pregnancy Discrimination In 2011, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) received the largest number of complaints of pregnancy discrimination in its history. Pregnancy discrimination has been increasing since at least 1992. Pregnancy discrimination in New Jersey, New York and nationally continues to be a major problem. It is illegal to…
Both state and federal laws govern family leave in New Jersey. The Federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and New Jersey Family Leave Act (FLA) have long provided 12 weeks of unpaid family leave for employees of employers with at least 50 employees. In 2008, New Jersey passed the…
The United States Supreme Court recently ruled that a fired employee can sue his employer for the harm he suffered from “cat’s paw discrimination” because of his membership in the Army Reserve. Federal and state courts have ruled that “cat’s paw” liability applies in a wide variety of other New…
The United States Supreme Court recently issued a decision on a contentious question in employment law , with important implications for New Jersey employment disputes – can an employee who did not engage in protected activity sue his employer for firing him to retaliate against a friend or family member…
Employers commonly require that potential employees sign agreements waiving their right to jury trials and, instead, requiring them to arbitration all disputes arising from their employment. New Jersey and Federal law supports enforcement of arbitration agreements. Arbitration agreements are controlled by the Federal Arbitration Act and the New Jersey Arbitration…