Blog and Alerts

Sep 17 2024

Increased Protections for Immigrant Workers Across New Jersey 09.17.2024 Employer's Legal ResourceOn August 8, 2024, New Jersey lawmakers passed legislation to provide immigrant employees with greater protections under the law. The new law, effective immediately, subjects employers to fines and penalties for using an employee’s immigration status as a means to retaliate against them for raising concerns or complaints about their employment.

Sep 04 2024

Employment Law Update: Employer Reasonableness Is Key To Defeat Employee Failure To Accommodate Claims 09.04.2024 Employer's Legal ResourceAccording to the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”), an employee who has a disability that makes it difficult to perform an essential function of the job may request an accommodation from an employer to  enable the employee to do so. If there is no way to accommodate the employee’s disability or it is an “undue hardship” to the employer, the employer does not have to grant the accommodation request. Employers have a duty to engage in an “interactive process” to determine whether an accommodation can be made and the form of the accommodation. A recent Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals decision, Tartaro-McGowan v. Inova Home Health, illustrates that employers who are reasonable in negotiating with an employee over an accommodation request will be able to defeat “failure to accommodate” claims.

Aug 26 2024

Violating the New Jersey Earned Sick Leave Law Can Be Very Costly 08.26.2024 Employer's Legal ResourceDid you know that, pursuant to the 2018 New Jersey Earned Sick Leave Law, all New Jersey employers are obligated to provide each employee working in the state with paid earned sick leave (“ESL”) for qualifying reasons? Employers have obligations and employees have rights under the law, and when the law is not followed, it can have very serious ramifications for employers.

Aug 23 2024

Federal Judge Overturns FTC’s Non-Compete Ban 08.23.2024 Health Law Check UpAs we advised in our prior blog post, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) promulgated regulations banning enforcement of most post-employment non-compete restrictions. In the blog post we noted there was pending litigation and many commentators believed the regulations would be stricken, or, at the very least, delayed. With the regulations set to go into effect on September 4, 2024, on August 20, 2024, Judge Ada Brown of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas ruled against the FTC, striking down the regulations.  In short, Judge Brown determined that the FTC lacked authority to adopt such rules.

Aug 12 2024

Can An Employer Terminate The Health Insurance of An Employee Who Turns 65 and Becomes Medicare Eligible? 08.12.2024 Employer's Legal ResourceThe answer is “it depends”. The Medicare Secondary Payer (“MSP”) rules determine which coverage is the primary payer when an employee is a beneficiary of both an employer’s group health plan and Medicare. The primary payer is the insurer that is the first to pay coverage of a healthcare bill. The secondary payer covers remaining costs if any, up to its limits, that the primary payer insurance does not cover.

Jul 30 2024

Urgent News on The New Jersey Secure Choice Savings Program 07.30.2024 Employer's Legal ResourceMore than three years after the enactment date of the New Jersey Secure Choice Savings Program (“Program”), new deadlines to comply have been announced. The Program requires certain New Jersey employers to provide their employees with a payroll-funded Roth IRA if the employer has not already established a qualified retirement plan. This month, July 2024, the apparatus to implement the Program, RetireReady NJ (“RR”) was launched. 

Jul 29 2024

Construction-Industry Employers: Take a Look at the EEOC’s New Guidance on Preventing Harassment on Your Worksites 07.29.2024 Employer's Legal ResourceOn June 18, 2024, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) issued “Promising Practices for Preventing Harassment in the Construction Industry” (the “Guidance”), an overview of the core principles for construction-industry employers to effectively prevent harassment on their worksites.  In support of these principles, the Guidance contains several recommendations for such employers to prevent harassment while remaining in compliance with federal laws.

Jul 29 2024

Update on the FTC's Non-Compete Ban: Recent Court Rulings and Implications for Employers 07.29.2024 Health Law Check UpAs we previously reported, in April 2024, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued a rule banning almost all employment-based non-compete restrictions. While the rule has garnered significant opposition, it is still currently scheduled to go into effect September 4, 2024. This alert will provide an overview of the current legal challenges facing the rule, and further give practical guidance to help prepare for (possible) implementation of the rule on September 4th.

Jul 23 2024

Household Employers Must Take Steps to Comply with New Jersey’s Domestic Workers Bill of Rights 07.23.2024 Employer's Legal ResourceOn July 1, 2024, the New Jersey Domestic Workers Bill of Rights went into effect, extending employee protections to more than 50,000 domestic workers throughout the state. Here is what household employers need to know.

Jul 17 2024

What is the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act? 07.17.2024 Employer's Legal ResourceThe Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (“PWFA”) is a federal law that requires private and public employers, with 15 or more employees, to make reasonable accommodations for a qualified employee’s or applicant’s known limitations (physical or mental) related to, affected by or arising out of pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions irrespective of whether those conditions qualify as a disability.