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…
In October 2019, the Appellate Division of the Superior Court of New Jersey issued an opinion in the case of Becker v. Ollie Solcum & Son, Inc., examining the enforceability of an arbitration clause in a construction project. The decision continued the trend in New Jersey of limiting enforcement of…
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…
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…
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…
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…
Injunctive Relief Injunctive relief is an order by a court requiring a party to cease an act, condition or behavior. It is a powerful tool in New Jersey business law civil cases. An order for injunctive relief is typically referred to as an “injunction.” A temporary injunction is granted only…
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 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 —…
If a person wants to control the distribution of funds held in an IRA after their death, it is possible to do so by naming a trust as the beneficiary of the IRA. However, in order to minimize tax consequences, the trust named as the beneficiary must be a “look-through”…