As our response to this pandemic crisis evolves and employers’ move into uncharted territory, more questions arise. To keep employers current, we offer you key updates about the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (the...more
This is an unprecedented time and employers face an evolving crisis and fast-moving changes to laws. The team at Flaster Greenberg is prepared to help guide employers on compliance with existing and new laws, as well as best...more
You may recall, in 2019, this blog post reported New Jersey’s Appellate Division joined courts that found an employee may be able to state a disability discrimination claim against an employer who takes an adverse employment...more
In the era of #MeToo, the gag order (legally speaking, non-disclosures or confidentiality clauses) has come under attack as a tool that silences victims and is responsible for compounding the damage to victims by keeping them...more
They say the only thing in life that is constant is change, and we certainly saw that in 2019. This was a big year for change in employment law as legislators, courts, and regulators, shaped the workplace to reflect societal...more
12/9/2019
/ Arbitration Agreements ,
Contract Terms ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Employment Litigation ,
Exempt-Employees ,
Fringe Benefits ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Jurisdiction ,
Medical Marijuana ,
Non-Disclosure Agreement ,
Non-Exempt Employees ,
Over-Time ,
Salary/Wage History ,
Seating ,
State Labor Laws ,
Title VII ,
Wage and Hour ,
Wage Theft ,
Wal-Mart
The wait for new overtime rules is over. As you may recall, the U.S. Department of Labor released a Final Rule which was to go into effect on December 1, 2016, but, due to a court-issued injunction, followed by change of...more
10/3/2019
/ Bonuses ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Exempt-Employees ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Final Rules ,
Highly Compensated Employees ,
Minimum Salary ,
Over-Time ,
Salaried Employees ,
Wage and Hour ,
White-Collar Exemptions
On August 6, 2019, New Jersey amended its Wage and Hour Law and adopted the new Wage Theft Act (WTA), creating one of the toughest wage and hour enforcement laws in the country. This law puts a high burden on employers and...more
8/19/2019
/ Adverse Employment Action ,
Criminal Liability ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Liquidated Damages ,
New Legislation ,
Retaliation ,
State Labor Laws ,
Statute of Limitations ,
Unpaid Wages ,
Wage and Hour ,
Wage Theft ,
Wages
To combat historical imbalances in pay of women and minorities, New Jersey recently passed a bill amending New Jersey’s Law Against Discrimination (LAD) to prohibit employers from asking prospective employees about their...more
In Fort Bend County, Texas v. Davis, 139 S. Ct. 1843 (2019), the Supreme Court of the United States resolved a split among lower appellate courts over whether the requirement that employees file a charge with the Equal...more
As of July 2, 2019, New Jersey has extended workplace protections to employees and healthcare practitioners engaging in activities authorized by New Jersey’s “Jake Honig Compassionate Use Medical Cannabis Act” (the “Act”),...more
7/9/2019
/ Adverse Employment Action ,
Amended Legislation ,
Cannabis Act ,
Disability ,
Disability Discrimination ,
Drug Testing ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Policies ,
Health Care Providers ,
Marijuana ,
Medical Marijuana ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Risk Management ,
State Labor Laws
The federal Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 eliminated a federal tax deduction for employers which had allowed them to deduct the cost of providing qualified transportation benefits to employees (thereby removing the tax...more
In the latest salvo in an evolving legal issue, a federal court in Arizona ruled against Walmart in a recent lawsuit for terminating an employee who possessed a valid medical marijuana card after a drug test of the worker...more
Ever since the use of properly prescribed medical marijuana became legal in New Jersey, Courts have grappled with reconciling state and federal laws protecting employees from disability discrimination, and employers’ rights...more
4/2/2019
/ Appeals ,
Compassionate Use Act ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Decriminalization of Marijuana ,
Disability Discrimination ,
Drug Testing ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Employment Policies ,
Marijuana ,
Medical Marijuana ,
NJLAD ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Termination
As businesses across the country look to capitalize on the “green rush” from states’ expanded medical and adult use cannabis laws, unions are also eager to take advantage of the opportunities presented by this burgeoning, and...more
Walmart reportedly agreed to pay $65 million to settle a case brought on behalf of nearly 100,000 current and former California cashiers who claimed the company violated their rights under a state law dating back to 1911 when...more
On March 18, 2019, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy signed a new law, which, among other things, bars employers from requiring employees to sign or enforcing employment contracts that require employees to agree to waive...more
Welcome to the fourth edition of the Law @ Work Employer Newsletter. For those of you who read the Law @ Work blog, you know that the blog offers an in-depth analysis of important legal developments. This Newsletter fills in...more
3/14/2019
/ Comment Period ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Exempt-Employees ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Marijuana ,
Medical Marijuana ,
Minimum Salary ,
NPRM ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Settlement ,
Suitable Seats Lawsuits ,
Unions ,
Wage and Hour ,
Wal-Mart
As long-time readers of this blog may recall, since 2015, the U.S. Department of Labor has been trying to update its Fair Labor Standards Act regulations to qualify more employees for overtime pay. For basic exemptions,...more
Earlier this week, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy signed into law a bill providing for an expansion of the New Jersey Family Leave Act (“NJFLA”) in important ways. Prior to this bill, the NJFLA required employers with 50 or...more
2/28/2019
/ Amended Rules ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Handbooks ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Family Members ,
Medical Leave ,
Paid Family Leave Insurance Program ,
Paid Family Leave Law ,
Paid Leave ,
Required Documentation ,
Sick Leave ,
Small Employers ,
State Labor Laws ,
Training Requirements
Last week, Adam E. Gersh, Esquire, and Jeremy S. Cole, Esquire, co-presented a seminar addressing hot topics in in New Jersey employment law, highlighted by a discussion of New Jersey’s recently-passed Paid Sick Leave Law....more
10/30/2018
/ Conflicts of Laws ,
Disability ,
Disability Discrimination ,
Earned Sick Time ,
Employment Policies ,
Equal Pay ,
Equal Pay Act ,
Gender-Based Pay Discrimination ,
Medical Marijuana ,
Mental Health ,
Paid Leave ,
Paid Sick Leave Act ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Sick Leave ,
Sick Pay ,
State Labor Laws
Non-compete and other restrictive covenants are commonly used by employers in many industries to protect their trade secrets and legitimate business interests. While employees may be willing to sign them when they take a new...more
When Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. fired store manager Jeanette Ortiz, accusing her of stealing $626 in cash from the safe, it could never have expected its minimal theft loss to balloon into a nearly $8 million jury verdict...more
9/24/2018
/ Chipotle Grill ,
Destruction of Evidence ,
Duty to Preserve ,
Electronically Stored Information ,
Employee Misconduct ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Former Employee ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Jury Trial ,
Property Theft ,
Punitive Damages ,
Retaliation ,
Wrongful Termination
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit sided with a church operating the Lord’s Buffet and against the Department of Labor (“DOL”) in a case testing the reach of the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”). In Acosta v....more
In Malee v. Anthony & Frank Ditomaso, Inc., the Court served a surprise to a shareholder of a corporation that owned a restaurant, who sought to be dismissed from a FLSA case brought by employees of the restaurant....more
Welcome to the third edition of the Law @ Work Employer Newsletter. For those of you who read the Law @ Work blog, you know that the blog offers an in-depth analysis of important legal developments. This Newsletter fills in...more
9/14/2018
/ Appeals ,
Churches ,
Corporate Liability ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Duty to Preserve ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Jury Verdicts ,
Minimum Wage ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Punitive Damages ,
Resorts & Restaurants ,
Restrictive Covenants ,
Retaliation ,
Shareholders ,
Spoliation ,
State Law Claims ,
Theft ,
Volunteers ,
Wage and Hour ,
Wrongful Termination