New Jersey Legislative Update

On September 6, 2023, New York Governor Kathy Hochul signed a law that prohibits employers from requiring employees to attend employer-sponsored meetings the “primary purpose” of which is to communicate the employer’s opinions on religious or political matters, including relating to joining a labor organization. The law became effective immediately, and is another step in the small, but growing number of states, that are campaigning against so-called “captive audience” meetings. Continue Reading New York State Bans Employers from Holding Mandatory “Captive Audience” Meetings

On February 6, 2023, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy signed the Temporary Workers’ Bill of Rights, significantly expanding the rights and protections afforded to the 127,000 temporary workers in New Jersey. The new law, which will largely take effect on August 5, 2023, though certain provisions already took effect on May 7, 2023, sets new requirements for “temporary help service firms” that employ “temporary laborers” in a “designated classification placement.”Continue Reading New Jersey Significantly Expands Rights and Protections of Temporary Workers Through the Recently Enacted Temporary Workers’ Bill of Rights

On December 19, 2022, the New Jersey Legislature passed a bill that, if signed by Governor Phil Murphy, would amend the effective date of amendments to the Millville Dallas Airmotive Plant Job Loss Notification Act (“NJ WARN”) that were originally passed in January of 2020. Those amendments were previously paused as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, and under that pause would take effect 90 days after Governor Murphy’s Executive Order No. 103 expired. Because Executive Order No. 103 remains in effect, without any indication of when it may expire, the New Jersey Legislature passed this bill to set an effective date of such NJ WARN amendments.Continue Reading New Jersey Legislature Passes Bill to Set the Effective Date of Amendments to the New Jersey WARN Act

Following a nationwide trend, New Jersey recently joined a growing list of states seeking to limit the use of non-compete and non-solicitation agreements by employers.Continue Reading What Employers Need to Know About Newly Proposed Non-Compete Legislation in New Jersey

Since taking office, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy has prioritized eliminating misclassification of employees as independent contractors.  In furtherance of this goal, on July 8, 2021, Governor Murphy signed four bills into law which make it easier for the state to (i) identify employers who misclassify employees as independent contractors, and (ii) penalize employers for such misclassification.  Highlights from each of these four laws are summarized below:
Continue Reading New Laws Passed in New Jersey Designed to Identify and Penalize Employers Who Misclassify Employees as Independent Contractors

In an effort to combat the recent rise in COVID-19 cases in New Jersey, on October 28, 2020 Governor Murphy signed Executive Order 192 (the “Order”), mandating health and safety standards to protect New Jersey’s workers during the pandemic.  Effective November 5, 2020, the Order requires every business, non-profit and governmental or educational entity to implement certain protocols to protect employees, customers, and all others who come into physical contact with its operations. Key takeaways are summarized below.
Continue Reading New Jersey Governor Murphy Orders New COVID-19 Workplace Protocols

At the beginning of this year, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy signed a package of legislation aimed at protecting the rights of workers who have been misclassified as independent contractors.  One of these new laws, Assembly Bill 5843, requires employers to post notices regarding employee misclassification.  The New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development has now published the required posting in two different sizes (11 x 17 and 8.5 x 11).
Continue Reading New Jersey Department of Labor Releases Posters for Employers to Utilize to Satisfy Employee Misclassification Posting Requirements

On April 14th New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy signed Senate Bill 2353 into law. The law delays the application date of the New Jersey WARN amendments passed earlier this year and removes mass layoffs due to COVID-19 from coverage under the statute.
Continue Reading New Jersey Gives Employers a Break on New WARN Requirements Due to COVID-19

On January 21, 2020, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy signed Senate Bill 3170 (the “amendments” or “NJ WARN Act”) into law making New Jersey the first state in the nation to require severance pay for mass layoffs.  The law, scheduled to go into effect on July 19, 2020, will make it dramatically more expensive for companies to conduct a large scale reduction in force in New Jersey.
Continue Reading New Jersey Significantly Modifies the New Jersey WARN Act to Require Severance Pay for Mass Layoffs

In a case of first impression, the New Jersey Appellate Division determined that employers in the state must reimburse employees for medical cannabis following a workplace accident, despite federal prohibitions against cannabis distribution.  The January 13, 2020 decision in Hager v. M&K Construction, Case No. A-0102-18T3, is the first time a court in the state has required reimbursement for a cannabis prescription in the workers’ compensation context, and may signal a fresh judicial focus on the scope of lawful medical cannabis use in the employment context both in New Jersey and in states with similar laws.

The Hager decision has clear implications for New Jersey employers, who are now required to reimburse injured employees for medical cannabis (at least under circumstances similar to those presented in the case).  Employers in other states that have legalized medical cannabis but have yet to rule on the interplay between the Controlled Substances Act (“CSA”) and state law in workers’ compensation disputes should also take note in the event that similar reimbursement requests arise.Continue Reading New Jersey Court Commands Cannabis Reimbursement in Workers’ Compensation Dispute