Labor & Employment Insights

As the country reels from the coronavirus pandemic, the economic impact on businesses and employees has become painfully evident.   Whether due to personal or family illness with the virus, self-isolation, school or business closures, or a downturn in business, employees are expected to be facing extended absences from the workplace.   Many employees, especially hourly workers, may not have available paid time off or the economic cushion to weather the loss of income during the absence. Employers may not have the financial wherewithal to pay employees during these absences. In anticipation of these and other  dire economic consequences brought on by the virus, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Emergency Paid Leave Act with the support of the President. On March 16, 2020 the House substantially revised the bill to significantly narrow the relief available to employees under the original version.  The Senate passed the bill two days later and it is now headed to the President for his signature.  The Families First Coronavirus Response Act will provide economic relief to employees affected by coronavirus-related absences.

The Act will apply to employers with 500 or less employees.   Larger employers are not covered. Administration and Senate leaders have commented that these larger employers typically provide sick leave benefits to their employees,  but many may not provide for two weeks of leave. If not, these employees may be unprotected. Employers with less than 50 employees can apply for an exemption through the Department of Labor if it would “jeopardize the viability of the business”, a vague standard that has yet to be defined.

We have outlined below key provisions of the Act that we hope will assist employers in making difficult staffing decisions going forward.

For nearly two decades New Jersey employers had to comply with the notice requirements of the Federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN), 21 U.S.C. 2100 et seq., as well as New Jersey’s similar counterpart, Millville Dallas Airmotive Plant Job Loss Notification Act (NJ WARN Act), N.J.S.A. 34:21-2. While not identical, both statutes require New Jersey employers with 100 or more employees to provide 60 days’ written advance notice to those employees affected by a “mass layoff” or “plant closing” or a “termination of operations” or “transfer of operations” as those are defined under the respective statutes. Both laws require similar notifications to designated state and local officials. A failure to provide the required 60 days’ advance notice could result in liability for wages and benefits for the period for which the notice was not provided to the affected employee.

As a result of the Toys ‘R’ Us bankruptcy filing in 2017, more than 30,000 workers were laid off nationally, and approximately 2,000 in New Jersey. Initially, these employees were not provided with any severance benefits but an ensuing battle ultimately resulted in the establishment of an assistance fund to provide some monetary relief to affected employees. Critics claimed that these benefits fell far short of what these workers should have been paid.

The Toys ‘R’ Us closures’ effect upon the citizens of New Jersey did not go unnoticed by the state legislature. On Jan. 21, 2020, New Jersey amended the NJ WARN Act to become the first state to mandate employee severance payments in the event of a closure of operations or mass layoff of employees. The amendments also extend significant additional protections to New Jersey employees, making it the most progressive law of its kind in the country. The law goes into effect July 19, 2020.

NEW JERSEY AND YOU, PERFECT TOGETHER?  NOT SO MUCH. 

Slew of Bills Out of Trenton Impose Increasing Burdens on Those Doing Business in the State

PART 1

I. Where We Are

A. What Are Restrictive Covenants in the Employment Setting in New Jersey?

Generally speaking, restrictive covenants in an employment setting take one of three forms: a covenant not to compete, a non-solicitation covenant, and/or a non-disclosure covenant.

Lindabury’s Employment Law Group partner, Kathleen Connelly joins Jeanie Coomber for her podcast series One Woman Today discussing “Workplace Sensitivity Training, Harassment and Bullying”.  In their conversation, Kathleen shares her wisdom on what constitutes “bad behavior” and how education of employees and thorough and fair investigations is paramount for employers.

You may listen to the archived podcast here.

New Jersey has adopted one of the strongest wage theft laws in the country and jumps to the forefront in protecting employee wages.  Effective November 1, 2019, New Jersey employers will face enhanced civil and criminal penalties, including possible jail time, for failing to pay employees in accordance with the New Jersey Wage and Hour Law, the New Jersey Wage Payment Law and the New Jersey Wage Collection Law.

Enhanced Penalties for Violators: Under the new Wage Theft Act,  an employer who fails to pay minimum wage or the agreed-upon wages to an employee, any overtime compensation due the employee,  or pay the employee in a manner required by law (e.g., paying employees in cash without deducting appropriate taxes) is liable to the aggrieved employee for the full amount of the wages owed plus liquidated damages up to 200%, costs of the litigation and attorneys’ fees. An employer seeking to avoid liquidated damages must 1) be a first-time offender; 2) demonstrate that the failure to pay appropriate wages was an inadvertent, good faith mistake, and  3) acknowledge that it violated New Jersey wage laws and pay the amount owed within 30 days.  An agreement between the employer and employee to work for less wages than required by law is not a defense to a violation.

In addition, violators face enhanced fines of $500 and 20% of the owed wages for a first offense, increased to $1,000 and 20% for each subsequent offense, and administrative penalties ranging from $250 for a first violation to $500 for every subsequent violation.