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• 01.23.2024New Jersey Domestic Workers Gain Added Protections On January 12, 2024, Governor Phil Murphy signed the New Jersey Domestic Workers Bill of Rights Act (S-723/A-822), establishing a broad range of rights and employment protections for domestic workers. Domestic workers were previously excluded from the Law Against Discrimination and the New Jersey State Wage and Hour Law, leaving them without employee rights such as protections against harassment and discrimination, rest and meal breaks. The new law follows the precedent set by other states, including California, Connecticut, New York, and Massachusetts. Similar bills are pending in Philadelphia and Washington, D.C. The law will take effect in July 2024.
• 08.14.2023After the Injury: NJ District Court Reiterates Indefinite Light Duty & Unpaid Leave is Not a Reasonable Accommodation On July 12, 2023, in Wraith v. Wayfair, Inc., the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey granted summary judgment in favor of an employer, dismissing a former employee’s claim of disability discrimination and failure to accommodate in violation of the New Jersey Workers’ Compensation Act (WCA), the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination (NJLAD) and the New Jersey Paid Sick Leave Law (PSLL) following an on-the-job injury. The District Court found that the employer did not have a duty to accommodate an indefinite light duty or indefinite leave under the law where the only information provided was a physician note indicating the employee could not return to work.
• 05.25.2023A Second Chance: NJ Employer Escapes Liability Where It Rectifies Discriminatory Conduct On May 17, 2023, in Schoenberg v. The Devereux Foundation, the New Jersey Appellate Division affirmed summary judgment for an employer, on a complaint filed by a former employee alleging gender and pregnancy discrimination in violation of the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination (NJLAD). The Court found that even where the employer had discriminated against the employee by revoking a job offer when it learned the employee was pregnant, the employer had rectified the situation and made the employee “whole” by reinstating the offer. The Court concluded that the employee unreasonably rejected the offer.
• 03.14.2023To Click or Not to Click: NJ Appellate Division Reaffirms Enforceability of Electronic Arbitration Agreements On March 7, 2023, in Dakota Powell vs. Prime Comms Retail LLC, the New Jersey Appellate Division ruled that a former employee must arbitrate her claims of race discrimination, rather than pursue them in court due to her electronic acknowledgement of a Mutual Agreement to Arbitrate upon hiring. The decision in Powell further confirms the growing acceptance of arbitration agreements by the New Jersey courts in New Jersey Law Against Discrimination (NJLAD) cases.
• 02.10.2023What The Temporary Workers' Bill of Rights Means For New Jersey Employers On February 6, 2023, Governor Murphy signed Assembly Bill 1474/S511, commonly referred to as the "Temporary Workers' Bill of Rights." The bill's "equal-pay-equal-benefit" provision requires that temporary workers be paid at least the same average rate of pay and equivalent benefits (or cash equivalent) as the third-party client’s permanent employees performing the same or similar work on jobs that require equal skill, effort, and responsibility. The legislation applies to workers in designated classifications, including certain workers in protective service, food preparation and serving, building, and grounds cleaning and maintenance, personal care and service, construction, production, and transportation occupational categories.
• 01.17.2023Beginning On April 10, 2023, New Jersey Employers Must Comply With Stricter Requirements On Mass-Layoffs And Business Closures In 2020, New Jersey amended the Millville Dallas Airmotive Plant Job Loss Notification Act (referred to as the NJ WARN Act), which regulates employers implementing mass layoffs and business closures. Governor Phil Murphy placed those amendments on hold due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Three years after their enactment, on January 10, 2023, Governor Murphy passed legislation making those amendments effective on April 10, 2023. Those amendments change the landscape for those employers who are forced to close their doors or reduce their workforce.
• 12.22.2022Compliance Alert For New Jersey Employers: Updated Employment Posters issued by the DCR The New Jersey Division on Civil Rights (DCR) recently adopted new and amended regulations concerning the "Display of Official Posters of the Division on Civil Rights” which require employers to display two updated posters in the workplace. The first poster informs employees of the prohibition under the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination (NJLAD) against discrimination and harassment in the workplace based on a protected status. The second poster informs employees of their right to take up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job protected leave in a 24 month period to care for a family member or bond with a newly born or placed child under the New Jersey Family Leave Act (NJFLA). The NJFLA applies to employers of 30 or more employees.
• 11.03.2022Timing is Everything: NJ Appellate Division Compels Arbitration of Employee’s Sex Harassment Claims On October 26, 2022, the New Jersey Appellate Division in Rourke v. Herr Foods, Inc. once again confirmed that the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) preempts the 2019 amendment to the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination (NJLAD) invalidating employment agreements that require employees to waive rights pertaining to claims of harassment, discrimination and/or retaliation. Thus, the employee was required to proceed to arbitration on his sexual harassment, sexual assault and retaliation claims.
• 08.31.2022You Snooze You Lose: NJ Appellate Division Affirms Dismissal of Sleep Apnea Disability Bias Class Action On August 15, 2022, the New Jersey Appellate Division declined to reinstate a disability bias class action brought by a New Jersey Transit train operator who was required undergo a sleep apnea screening due to the results of his physical examination as required by NJ Transit’s policy stemming from safety concerns as a result of a 2016 train accident.
• 08.25.2021Everyone’s Out of Bounds! NJ District Court Finds Employer’s Discretion in Managing Suspected FMLA Abuse is Limited by the Employer’s Lack of Proper Documentation On August 6, 2021, the New Jersey District Court in Calio v. Camden County Board of Chosen Freeholders, denied motions by both an employer and an employee to resolve a dispute over abuse of leave under the Federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and New Jersey Family Leave Act (NJFLA) rights. The District Court ruled that it could not dispose of the case in its early stages and could not find that the employer properly disciplined the employee for excessive absences, due in part, to the employer’s lack of proper documentation.