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Employment Law

Bill would shift responsibility for workplace safety rules

04/27/2009

State Sen. Doug Berger is not happy with the way the state labor commissioner is enforcing workplace safety laws. He has proposed a bill that would strip workplace safety enforcement duties from Labor Commissioner Cherie Berry and move them to a yet-to-be-created agency called the Employment Safety and Security Division …

State government employees seek right to join unions

04/27/2009

North Carolina is one of two states in the nation that bars public employees from unionizing. (Virginia is the other.) That may be changing. Legislators met with concerned state employees earlier this spring to discuss changing the 50-year-old law.

Staples gets nailed for breaking overtime law

04/27/2009

A federal jury in Newark has awarded $2.5 million in damages to 343 sales managers employed by office superstore Staples. The court determined the retailer misclassified the managers as exempt from the Fair Labor Standards Act when they were not.

Merely speaking about need for diversity isn’t protected

04/27/2009

Fired employees with vengeance on their minds often go looking for a reason to sue. They often latch on to the charge that they complained about discrimination and then were punished. As the following case shows, it takes more than a casual mention of diversity to constitute a protected action.

Harassment claim sound loony? Investigate anyway

04/27/2009

Some sexual harassment claims seem so obviously absurd, they’re hard to take seriously. Even so, smart employers investigate and draw conclusions after at least talking to the parties involved. That way, should an employee sue, the company can show it handled the matter promptly and in good faith.

NJLAD amendment aims to end credit history discrimination

04/27/2009

State Assemblyman Anthony Chiappone has introduced a bill that would amend the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination (NJLAD) to bar employment discrimination based on an applicant’s or employee’s credit history or financial status.

Employers get clarification on family leave tax

04/27/2009

The New Jersey Legislature’s Office of Legislative Services has clarified that the state’s new family leave law isn’t to be funded with taxes on retirees’ pension payments.

N.J. Senate examines possible ‘Senior Labor Task Force’

04/27/2009

The New Jersey Senate Labor Committee has unanimously passed a bill requiring the state to establish a “Senior Labor Task Force” to study, evaluate and make recommendations in four key areas affecting senior citizen employment in New Jersey.

Check your policy! No privilege when e-mailing lawyer from work

04/27/2009

A New Jersey court has held that e-mails employees send to their attorneys via work computers are not protected by the attorney-client privilege. The court’s willingness to rule that an employer’s right to control how employees use its computer equipment trumps attorney-client privilege is significant. The decision makes it clearer than ever that employers should carefully consider the language they use in their employee handbooks.

Remind managers to note disability disclosures

04/22/2009

The ADA protects disabled employees from discrimination, but it’s up to the disabled employee to come forward. Employers can’t be expected to be clairvoyant. Smart employers find a way to track those disclosures. Here’s an example of why that’s important: