The Employer Handbook Blog
New Jersey made it easier for employers to comply with displaying official posters from the New Jersey Division on Civil Rights (DCR). Continue reading
Articles Posted in New Jersey
Hostile work environment claims are often like trees falling in the forest
If a tree falls in the forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound? Continue reading
This HR service provider “walked the walk” and defeated claims of age discrimination
Some of the tenets of good HR compliance include documenting and communicating performance issues and taking additional formal steps to alleviate them. If those steps fail, the employer can proceed with termination, being sure to document the reasons supporting the final decision. Continue reading
Yes, it’s still ok in NJ to have a non-disparagement provision when settling discrimination claims.
Back in March 2019, the State of New Jersey passed a law that makes any non-disclosure provisions in an employment contract or settlement agreement that have the purpose or effect of concealing the details relating to a claim of discrimination, retaliation, or harassment unenforceable against a current or former employee who is a party to the contract or settlement. I wrote about it here. Continue reading
The place where male and female employees “routinely called each other by names describing a person with a large posterior.”
This case involves a plaintiff who worked as a part-time bartender who worked for a bar in New Jersey. She claimed that her supervisor created a hostile work environment by calling the plaintiff names “used to describe a person with an oversized posterior.” (The court deemed it unnecessary to identify the supervisor’s “alternate names” for the plaintiff.) Continue reading
New Jersey is back doing New Jersey things, like trying to kill restrictive covenants
For one of the most employee-friendly states in the country, the current state of play in New Jersey for restrictive covenant agreements like non-competes and non-solicits is employer-friendly. Although your mileage may vary by judge, most will enforce reasonable contracts of up to two years with a geographical footprint that coincides with where the company does business. Continued employment is sufficient consideration, and if the agreement is too broad, the judge can reform it.
Those days may be ending soon. Continue reading
195,000 reasons to remember that state family leave laws don’t always track the FMLA
If you operate a business in a state that has a family and medical leave law, be careful when that state law does not overlap precisely with the Family and Medical Leave Act. Continue reading
Be careful. Your employee tracking software and equipment may be illegal in some states.
Did you happen to catch my friend Jon Hyman’s blog post about employers who surreptitiously install tracking software on electronic devices to monitor their employees?
Your mileage may vary as to whether it’s good for business. In some states, it may be downright illegal.
Continue reading
This one goes out to all you New Jersey arbitration nerds.
If, like me, you’ve always wondered whether the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) preempts a 2019 amendment to New Jersey’s Law Against Discrimination (LAD) that prohibits the waiver of procedural and substantive rights under the LAD, try to remain calm. I’m about to blow the lid off this jawn.
(The rest of you can bug out and play Wordle.) Continue reading
NJ is doing more NJ things by beefing up its age discrimination rules for hiring and promotions
Famartin, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Earlier this week, Governor Phil Murphy announced that he had signed A681 into law, which expands the scope of the Law Against Discrimination (LAD) — already one of the most comprehensive anti-discrimination laws in the country — by providing protections against age discrimination by employers.
Hey, I’m not complaining. Changes like these will help pay to put my kids through college. But let’s see what this latest amendment is all about. Continue reading