New Jersey employment law prohibits employers from screening job applicants based on their salary history. Employers also may not require applicants to provide salary history information. The law helps job seekers overcome historical disparities in pay. It requires employers to base new hires’ pay on the market rate for their labor rather than their previous salary or wages. The law includes an exception for situations where a federal law or regulation requires job applicants to disclose salary history, or employers to verify that information. This exception might not be an issue much longer f ..read more

Federal and New Jersey employment laws protect workers’ rights to engage in a wide range of “concerted activities” intended to improve conditions for workers, both in the workplace and society at large. These protections extend beyond activities that are directly related to union organizing and collective bargaining. In February 2024, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) ruled that federal law protects the display of certain social justice messages in the workplace. A customer-facing employee at a big-box retail store wrote “BLM,” the initials for “Black Lives Matter,” on his employer-iss ..read more

Workplace harassment based on a protected category, such as sex, race, or religion, violates New Jersey employment laws. Under current state law, the legal standards for asserting harassment claims are mostly based on caselaw rather than statutes. A bill pending in the New Jersey Legislature, A2443, would amend the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination (NJLAD) to add a definition of workplace harassment and the legal standard for making a claim. The bill would codify much of the New Jersey Supreme Court’s hostile work environment standard and disavow several court rulings on harassment claims ..read more

Employment disputes can often become quite complicated. Multiple issues and complaints can combine to create an untenable situation, or one grievance can turn into many. Workplace discrimination, for example, can lead to retaliation for opposing or reporting that discrimination. New Jersey employment law protects workers against numerous types of adverse actions by employers. A lawsuit filed in a New Jersey state court last month presents a complicated series of allegations, including sexual harassment, hostile work environment, and retaliation. It also alleges discrimination based on associat ..read more

Service in the U.S. military and other uniformed services can mean a great deal of uncertainty. People who serve in the National Guard or Armed Forces Reserves have training obligations and may find themselves called to active duty. This can cause difficulties with employment in both the private sector and non-military government jobs. New Jersey employment law prohibits employers from discriminating based on military service obligations, but its protections only cover mandatory service in the Armed Forces. Federal law goes further by addressing servicemembers’ ability to return to their jobs ..read more

When applying New Jersey employment laws dealing with discrimination, courts have long held that plaintiffs must prove that they suffered actual harm. This might involve the loss of a job, lower wages, or the loss of other benefits or features of employment. Many courts around the country have applied similar interpretations to laws like Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. A case pending before the U.S. Supreme Court could change how courts in New Jersey and nationwide interpret these laws. A police sergeant alleges that her employer discriminated against her based on sex by transferrin ..read more

Numerous laws protect the rights of employees in the workplace. For those laws to apply to a particular individual, they must have an employment relationship with their employer, as defined by law. Not everyone in a workplace is necessarily an employee. Some might be independent contractors. While employees have a wide range of legal protections, independent contractors often only have whatever protections are included in their contracts. Employers sometimes falsely claim that an employee is an independent contractor, which is known as employee misclassification. New Jersey employment law uses ..read more

Harassment in the workplace violates federal and New Jersey employment laws in certain circumstances. The harassment must be based on a protected category like race, sex, or religion. It must negatively impact someone’s employment, such as when it creates a hostile work environment. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) investigates alleged harassment that violates federal employment laws like the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. In October 2023, the agency issued a new proposed guidance document on unlawful workplace harassmen ..read more

Domestic workers, such as in-home caregivers, play a vital role in our society. Federal and New Jersey employment laws treat some domestic workers differently than other workers, including exemptions for minimum wage and overtime pay. The federal government has made it a priority to improve legal protections for domestic workers. The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) recently issued a series of sample employment contracts for domestic workers that outline their legal rights. New Jersey is making similar improvements, such as the New Jersey Domestic Workers’ Bill of Rights (DWBR), which the govern ..read more

Protecting the rights of employees and job applicants in New Jersey and around the country requires a complex system of courts and government agencies. Both federal and New Jersey employment laws rely on agencies to interpret, implement, and enforce those laws. Many employment disputes must go through an administrative process before a person can file a lawsuit in court, such as the process of filing a discrimination charge with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). Some agencies have administrative law judges (ALJs) who can rule on disputes. This helps keep court dockets from be ..read more