Current Events

The New Jersey Senate introduced a bill to distinguish the classifications between “employee” and “Independent Contractor” for the purposes of NJ Wage and Hour laws. Workers, particularly high-end professionals such as IT managers etc., who are classified by their employers as “independent contractors” wonder if this new legislation will offer them protections from retaliation if they whistleblow on their employer’s illegal acts. In many instances, this legislation is unlikely to make a difference due to the evolution of the law by the NJ courts in determining cases brought under NJ’s whistleblower statute, The Conscientious Employee Protection Act, “CEPA”.

This new proposed legislation attempts to prevent widespread practice of mis-classification by employers of their workers, calling them, “independent contractors” when the workers are essentially employees.

Many workers feel that they are in a gray zone as to their job classification as to whether they are an independent contractor or employee. As the classification relates to whistleblower to discrimination laws, even an employer’s failure to withhold Federal or State income taxes, pay unemployment compensation contributions or workers' compensation premiums will not necessarily be determinative as to whether the workers are covered under the protection of state whistleblower and discrimination laws.

A new Senate bill proposes to tighten the definition of independent contractor for clarity for both employers and employees. This was prompted by rampant abuses by some employers who did not classify workers as employees so as to not have to adhere to NJ Wage and Hour Laws, not contribute to the workers’ social security and other benefits, and not have the workers be covered under the safety umbrella of employee protection statutes. The language of the proposed amendment however will not necessarily end the confusion as to the proper classification in many industries and may actually add to the confusion in some instances.

Acting Governor Sheila Oliver signed the New Jersey Wage Theft Act into law earlier this year. This Act is considered by many to be the toughest wage theft statute in the US.The New Jersey Wage Theft Act amends many of NJ’s existing civil and criminal statutes and three employment statutes mandating wages:

Two of the amended statutes addressing wages are:

1.) N.J.

Employees in New Jersey and elsewhere may feel nervous about retiring in their 60's, even when they had previously planned retiring by age 65 or 66 when they were younger workers. Increased costs of living and shrinking pension benefits may be part of the cause of the nervousness for their wanting to extend their retirement age, but anxiety regarding the decision as to the best age to retire can be exacerbated if they perceive they are being pushed out of the workforce by their employer, that their self-determination of when they will choose retire is being taken away from them.

First, employees in NJ should know that in NJ, it is illegal for an employer to fire someone because of their age - even if they are “senior” citizen workers in their 70's and 80's etc. (I personally don’t care for that phrase- “senior citizens” - it’s unfortunately loaded with far too many negative connotations. Hoping that mainstream culture substitutes “venerable” or that something similar will eventually replace it.

While Boards of Education have the right to choose which non-tenured teachers will have their contracts renewed and which they refuse to renew, the refusal cannot be based on illegal reasons. Motherhood is foremost for the continuation of the species! Pregnant women should be protected and supported, not discriminated against! As explained in 

Pregnant teachers in NJ are subject to the same anti-discrimination laws as are employees in other professions and this is true even when the pregnant teacher is non-tenured. Motherhood is foremost for the continuation of the species! Pregnant women should be protected and supported, not discriminated against!  I have successfully represented pregnant, non-tenured teachers whose contacts were not renewed and succeeded in recovering money for them.

Boards of Education have the right to decide which non-tenured employees’ contracts will be renewed and which will not be renewed. However, a decision to not renew cannot be based on an illegal reason. Pregnancy is a defined protected class pursuant to the New Jersey Pregnant Worker's Fairness Act (PWFA).

Sexual harassment at work continues to be a problem because it is largely not reported. New Jersey Courts and the US Supreme Court have therefore made it an initially lighter threshold burden to prove a retaliation claim for reporting the sexual harassment than an underlying sex discrimination claim.

https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/the-pervasiveness-of-sexual-harassment-in-todays-white-collar-workplace-300679484.

In New Jersey, employees are protected from discrimination in the workplace under both Federal and State laws. Statistics show that race discrimination employees plaintiffs fare better in New Jersey State Court than Federal Court. If you work in NJ, there are other advantages to filing in State Court under the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination (NJLAD), rather than pursuing your race claim under Federal law, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended. A race discrimination Plaintiff can file a NJLAD lawsuit against his employer in State Court without first having to exhaust administrative requirements in a process that is required under the Federal Law, Title VII.  If a person wants to file a race claim under Title VII, he must first file an administrative claim with the EEOC.