http://www.elinfonet.com/starticles/31 Articles discussing workplace law in New Jersey. Fri, 19 Mar 2010 01:03:00 EST en-us http://www.elinfonet.com/newscount.php?stateID=3002 Article: 3002 Thu, 11 Mar 2010 00:00:00 EST elin@elinfonet.com (Employment Law Information Network) New Regulation Issued Concerning Prevailing Wage Requirements for Construction Work on Public Utilities; Proposal to Require Employment Eligibility Verification and to Sanction Hiring of Unauthorized Aliens; Bill Proposes Extension of Health Benefits Continuation Under New Jersey “Mini COBRA”; Bill Reintroduced to Prohibit Mandatory Employment Arbitration Agreements; Governor Reveals Proposals for Fixing Unemployment Insurance Fund; NYS DOL Issues Additional Model Notice and Acknowledgement Forms to Assist Employers when Hiring New Employees; NYS DOL Extends Emergency Regulations Concerning Overtime for Nurses; Third Circuit Holds Administrative Exemption Under FLSA Applicable to Pharmaceutical Sales Representatives; CEPA Plaintiff Not Entitled to Front and Back Pay Unless Actually or Constructively Discharged. http://www.elinfonet.com/newscount.php?stateID=2963 Article: 2963 Tue, 02 Feb 2010 00:00:00 EST elin@elinfonet.com (Employment Law Information Network) New Law Allows License Suspension and Revocation for Repeat Violations of Wage, Benefits, and Tax Laws; Creates New Notice Requirements; Medical Marijuana Law Passes; Employers’ Accommodation Obligations Unclear; Employment Protection for Volunteer Emergency Responders; Annual Adjustments in Family Leave Insurance Contribution Rates; Autism Now Expressly Protected Under the NJLAD; Prevailing Wage – Expansion of the Scope of “Maintenance-Related Projects”; Construction Contracts Must Now Include Equal Employment Opportunity and Affirmative Action Language to Receive American Recovery and Reinvestment Funds; Governor Announces New Labor Commissioner Nominee; “Continuing Violation Theory” Cannot Be Used to “Sweep In” an Otherwise Time-Barred Discrete Retaliatory Act Under the NJLAD; Single “Politically Incorrect” Comment Insufficient to Establish Age Discrimination; NJLAD’s “Refusal To Do Business” Provision Prohibits Conditioning Business on Submission to Sexual Advances; No Bar on Public Interest Attorneys Simultaneously Negotiating Settlement on Merits and Attorneys’ Fees in NJLAD and CEPA Matters; Sexual Harassment Settlement with Public Employer Cannot Be Kept Secret. http://www.elinfonet.com/newscount.php?stateID=2962 Article: 2962 Fri, 29 Jan 2010 00:00:00 EST elin@elinfonet.com (Employment Law Information Network) On January 14, 2010, in a significant and rare pro-employer decision, the New Jersey Supreme Court in Fernando Roa and Liliana Roa v. LAFE and Marino Roa limited the continuing violations doctrine, which had been used by plaintiffs to expand the statute of limitations period under the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination (NJLAD). In Roa, the court made clear that under the NJLAD, the statute of limitations begins to run for a discrete retaliatory act, such as a discharge, on the date the act takes place. Rejecting a tactic often employed by plaintiffs, the court held that a timely claim for post-discharge retaliation does not revive an untimely retaliation claim based on a discrete act of which the employee knew or should have known. However, the court went on to hold that discrete post-discharge retaliatory conduct, in this case the cancellation of health insurance, is independently actionable even if it does not relate to an employee's present or future employment. http://www.elinfonet.com/newscount.php?stateID=2955 Article: 2955 Fri, 15 Jan 2010 00:00:00 EST elin@elinfonet.com (Employment Law Information Network) Weekly Unemployment, Temporary Disability and Family Leave Insurance Benefits Increased for 2010; Reminder – Employers With 10 or More Employees Must Provide Annual CEPA Notice; Prevailing Wage – Senate Labor Committee Approves Bill Requiring Participation in Registered Apprenticeship Programs; Prevailing Wage – Assembly Passes Bill Expanding Scope of “Maintenance-Related” Projects; NY WARN Act Emergency Rule Extended; New Jersey Institutes Mandatory CLE Requirements for All Licensed Attorneys, Effective Immediately; McDonnell Douglas Burden-Shifting Framework Still Applies to Federal Age Claims Despite “But For” Test Adopted by Supreme Court. http://www.elinfonet.com/newscount.php?stateID=2940 Article: 2940 Mon, 21 Dec 2009 00:00:00 EST elin@elinfonet.com (Employment Law Information Network) Governor Signs Law Allowing Corporations Greater Flexibility to Grant Equity Awards; Proposed Law Seeks to Bar Employment Disqualification Based Upon Convictions, and to Bar Asking Applicants about Arrest Record; New Jersey Wage and Hour Regulations Amended to Allow Employers to Withhold Wages for Health Club Membership Costs or Child Care Services; Proposed Amendment to LAD Clarifies Protection of Persons with Autism; Employment Protections Proposed for Emergency Responders; Bill Proposes Adjustments to Employee Contribution Rate for Family Temporary Disability Leave Insurance; New York Department of Labor Now Allows Employers to Prepare their Own Forms to Comply with Notice and Acknowledgment of Pay Requirements; New York Commissioner of Labor Approves Changes to Wage and Hour Regulations for Hotel and Restaurant Workers; New Jersey Appellate Court Embraces U.S. Supreme Court’s Ledbetter Decision; General Language in Employee Handbook Insufficient to Compel Arbitration of LAD Claim; Employee Entitled to Workers’ Compensation for Mental Stress Resulting from Hostile Work Environment. http://www.elinfonet.com/newscount.php?stateID=2906 Article: 2906 Thu, 12 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EST elin@elinfonet.com (Employment Law Information Network) New Jersey Prohibits Sex Offenders from Working for Youth Organizations; Proposed Amendment Redefines “Misconduct” for Unemployment Benefit Disqualification Purposes; NYS DOL Issues Required Notice and Acknowledgement Form that New York Employers Must Use When Hiring New Employees; “Nurse Coverage Plans” Mandatory for Involuntary Overtime in New York; Release Valid Under OWBPA Where Plaintiff Was Given Appropriate Time to Consider It, Notwithstanding He Signed It Immediately Due to His Own Poor Financial Condition; New Jersey Supreme Court Holds Defendants Cannot Recover Fees in CEPA and LAD Cases under Offer of Judgment Rule; ADEA Claim Fails Where Employer Had Numerous Reasons to Fire Employee; Age Clearly Not the “But For” Factor in Termination. http://www.elinfonet.com/newscount.php?stateID=2888 Article: 2888 Thu, 15 Oct 2009 00:00:00 EST elin@elinfonet.com (Employment Law Information Network) In an unpublished opinion, a federal district court in New Jersey has upheld a jury verdict in which a company was found liable for violating the federal Stored Communications Act (SCA). The violation occurred when the company’s managers intentionally accessed a “chat group” on an employee’s MySpace account without having received authorization from the MySpace member to join the group. Further, the court upheld the jury’s finding of malicious conduct, which supported an award of punitive damages. http://www.elinfonet.com/newscount.php?stateID=2886 Article: 2886 Mon, 12 Oct 2009 00:00:00 EST elin@elinfonet.com (Employment Law Information Network) New Jersey Announces Nation’s First RETURN-to-Work Program; 5,000+ NJ Residents Have Received Family Leave Insurance Benefits; Legislation Proposed to Provide Paid Sick Time in New York City; Appellate Division Adopts Broad Definition of “Opposition” Under the NJLAD; Employee May Bring FMLA Retaliation Claim Although Leave Had Not Commenced When Allegedly Unlawful Action Occurred; Plaintiff’s Failure to Follow Employer’s Version of the Interactive Process Does Not Justify Employer Abandoning the Process. http://www.elinfonet.com/newscount.php?stateID=2859 Article: 2859 Fri, 11 Sep 2009 00:00:00 EST elin@elinfonet.com (Employment Law Information Network) New York “Mini-COBRA” Law; Extended Health Insurance Coverage for Dependent Children Through Age 29; “Litigation Hold” Letters May Be Discoverable Where Company’s Efforts to Preserve Evidence Are Questionable; Plaintiff’s Use in Litigation of Confidential Documents Taken from Employer Does Not Constitute Protected Activity; Release Signed by Plaintiff Post-Termination Upheld as Voluntary; Under Title VII, Employer’s Remedial Action Is Adequate If It Is Reasonably Calculated to End the Harassment, Even If the Harassment Continues; No CEPA Claim Where Employee’s Interest Was Financial Gain; FMLA and NJFLA “Same or Equivalent Position” Requirement Analyzed; Third Circuit Addresses Standard for Evaluating Misappropriation of Confidential Information Claims. http://www.elinfonet.com/newscount.php?stateID=2824 Article: 2824 Thu, 13 Aug 2009 00:00:00 EST elin@elinfonet.com (Employment Law Information Network) New Jersey - Governor Corzine Signs “Egan & Quijano” Bill Imposing Harsher Penalties on Employers Found to Have Knowingly Violated Workers’ Compensation Requirements; New Jersey Minimum Wage Increase Affects New Wage Execution/Garnishment Orders; New York State Human Rights Law Amended to Allow Imposition of Civil Penalties and Fines Against Employers Found to Have Committed Discriminatory Employment Practices; New York Department of Labor Further Revises Its NY WARN Act Emergency Regulations; New Jersey - Overseas Employees May Be Eligible for New Jersey Workers’ Compensation Benefits;Third Circuit Refuses to Certify Class Challenging UPS’ No Light Duty Policy Under ADA; New Jersey - Supreme Court Holds Arbitration Agreements in Electronic Form Are Valid.