Morristown New Jersey Employment Law Blog

Regular readers of our Morristown employment law blog will no doubt recall that in our previous post, we took a look at the recently enacted omnibus law that is bringing significant changes to New Jersey employment law.

Effective July 1, the law makes changes to the Family Leave Act, SAFE Act, Temporary Disability Benefits Act and more.

Alert: On March 18, 2019, Governor Murphy signed into law Senate Bill No. 121, which will dramatically and prospectively alter the landscape on arbitration and settlements of claims based on discrimination, retaliation and harassment. The law takes effect immediately. Specifically, the new law provides:

• Non-disclosure provisions in settlement agreements of claims of discrimination, retaliation or harassment are unenforceable. A provision in any employment contract or settlement agreement which has the purpose or effect of concealing the details relating to a claim of discrimination, retaliation, or harassment is against public policy and is unenforceable against an employee who is a party to such agreement. If the employee publicly reveals sufficient details of the claim so that employer is reasonably identifiable, then the provision is also unenforceable. In short, an employee can demand confidentiality. But an employer cannot. Regardless, it's now against public policy.

If you run a business, you may have wondered if there is a difference between "business law" and "commercial law." Many people use the words "business" and "commercial" almost interchangeably. Is there a difference -- and does it affect the kind of lawyer you need?

The differences between the two areas of law are real, but the two areas overlap a great deal. For most situations you'll encounter as a business owner, the same lawyer should be able to assist you with either.

If you aren't certain your workers are properly classified as employees or independent contractors, you're not alone. Unfortunately, the Department of Labor is keeping an eye out for companies that classify workers as contractors when they are legally employees. This is because contractors aren't entitled to employer contributions to payroll taxes, provide workers' comp, unemployment insurance and other benefits. They are also exempt from a number of protective workplace laws.

If you are found to have misclassified workers, you could owe back wages and overtime. If the DOL decides you misclassified them willfully or intentionally, you could be liable for twice the actual wages owed.