Articles Discussing Employment Applications.

With Valentine’s Day quickly approaching, love is in the air. As an employer, do you know which of your employees might be celebrating together on Feb. 14?

Executive Summary: This Valentine’s Day, employers across industries are reevaluating their workplace dating and sexual harassment policies. Various surveys show that 40 percent of workers date or have dated co-workers. With the recent surge in sexual harassment allegations, evolution of the #MeToo movement, and ongoing legislative reform, it is crucial that employers remain proactive in setting boundaries around interoffice relationships. Employers can minimize liability associated with interoffice relationships by establishing clear policies, providing annual training for employees and managers, improving procedures to report sexual harassment complaints, and monitoring developments in relevant legislation and case law.

In a rare victory for employers, New Jersey’s Appellate Division upheld an employment application provision that shortened the two-year statute of limitations applicable to claims against an employer to six months. Rodriguez v. Raymours Furniture Company, Inc. is the first published (and therefore binding) New Jersey case on this issue, and paves the way for New Jersey employers to shorten, through their employment applications, the statutory limitations period for applicants and employees to bring lawsuits against them, subject to the mandate that the shortened period be reasonable.