Articles Discussing General Issues In New Jersey Labor & Employment Law.

The New Jersey State Assembly has passed and Governor Chris Christie has signed into law a bill that will increase the requirements for employers to provide notice to employees of laws protecting them from wage and other discrimination because of gender. The new law (A2647) supplements the New Jersey Equal Pay Act and requires employers with 50 or more employees to “conspicuously post” a notification stating workers’ rights to be free from gender inequity or bias in pay, compensation, benefits or other terms or conditions, under the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Equal Pay Act of 1963. Signed on September 21, 2012, the new law is scheduled to take effect 61 days from the date of its signing. However, the Commissioner of the Department of Labor still needs to develop and issue the form of notification required.

Several bills are pending before the New Jersey legislature that, if enacted, could significantly impact New Jersey employers. This Alert highlights some of the more significant bills.

The New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development (“NJDOL”) has placed new burdens on employers. A newly issued notice entitled, “Employer Obligation to Maintain and Report Records,” requires employers to (1) post this notice immediately in the workplace; (2) provide each employee hired prior to November 7, 2011, a written copy of the notice no later than December 7, 2011; and (3) provide employees hired after November 7, 2011, a written copy of the notice at the time of hire. A copy of the Notice is available here.

In 2009, New Jersey passed a law requiring the Department of Labor and Workforce Development (“DLWD”) to issue regulations providing that any employer who is required to maintain and report records regarding wages, benefits, and taxes pursuant to state law “shall conspicuously post notification” of the obligation to maintain and report those records.

The New Jersey Supreme Court has ruled 5-2 that an employee who engages in self-help and circumvents the pretrial discovery process by secretly copying her employer’s records for use in a discrimination lawsuit may be insulated from discipline and/or termination. The Court’s decision in Quinlan v. Curtiss-Wright Corp., No. A-51-09 (Dec. 2, 2010), adopting a totality-of-circumstances approach, gives employees who believe they were discriminated against more legal protections than ever while making it more difficult for employers to respond to employee misconduct.