A recent decision from the New Jersey Appellate Division serves as a warning to employers that arbitration clauses contained in employee handbooks are likely unenforceable. In C.M. v. Maiden Re Insurance Services, LLC, (“Maiden Re”), the employee filed an action in the New Jersey Superior Court alleging that she was…
Throughout the years OSHA has promulgated a substantial set of regulations to improve overall health and safety in the workplace, including the requirement that employers provide employees with sexually-segregated sanitary toilet facilities. On June 1, 2015, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (“OSHA”) issued a best practices guide for employers…
As part of a recent labor contract deal between the nurses’ union and Meridian Health in New Jersey, the union agreed to withdraw an unfair labor practice charge filed with the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) alleging Meridian unlawfully threatened nurses who posted social media messages in support of the…
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 requires employers to make reasonable accommodations for employee’s religious practices, including religious garments. In an 8-1 ruling, the United States Supreme Court recently decided an employer may be liable for religious discrimination if its hiring decision was motivated by the applicant’s…
In recent years the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has issued numerous opinions that decidedly favor employee rights to engage protected activity under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) over employer rights to manage conduct in the workplace. However, a recent decision by a NLRB administrative law judge that Cooper…
On July 15, 2015 the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) issued an Administrator Interpretation aimed at eradicating what the DOL perceives as widespread improper misclassification of “employees” as “independent contractors” in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). According to the DOL, misclassifying workers as independent contractors results in…
In its recent landmark ruling in State v. Saavedra, the New Jersey Supreme Court ruled that a former school board employee who was pursing discrimination and retaliation claims against the school could be criminally prosecuted for removing confidential school documents she claimed would aid her in pursuing those legal claims.…
A recent decision from the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals (a federal court with jurisdiction over MD, NC, SC and VA) is a stark reminder to employers of the consequences of failing to appropriately respond to any and all claims of unlawful workplace harassment no, matter what the source. In…
For nearly 30 years the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB” or “Board”) has reasoned that two businesses can only be deemed “joint employers” – and thus jointly responsible for purposes of collective bargaining and unfair labor practices – upon a showing that the companies exercised actual, direct and substantial control…
Employers: Prepare to Reclassify Employees Ranks of OT-eligible employees will swell by an estimated 5 million, under proposed DOL rules The U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL’s) long-awaited proposals overhauling the “white collar exemptions (which include the executive, administrative and learned professional exemptions) to the overtime requirements of the Fair Labor…