Employment Law

One of the highest priorities of New Jersey employers is to promote safety in their workplaces. Drug and alcohol use, however, can contribute to workplace accidents and create a hazardous environment. One method employers use to combat these dangers is drug testing, either before employees are hired or during their employment (or both). Although New Jersey does not have any laws regulating or restricting drug testing in the workplace, case law provides some guidance on the circumstances in which employer drug testing is permissible.

In the last few years, numerous New Jersey municipalities have passed local laws governing paid sick leave, including East Orange, Jersey City, Montclair, Newark, Paterson, Plainfield, and Trenton. This patchwork of local laws left employers and workers alike confused about what was required of businesses and unsure of how to calculate and use leave. Many of these problems will be resolved when New Jersey Paid Sick Leave Act (the “Act”), which was signed into law on May 2, 2018, goes into effect on October 29, 2018 and preempts all existing New Jersey municipal earned sick leave laws.

Looking for a job can be stressful. The difficult interview and hiring process can be even more difficult, however, if a previous employer gives you a negative reference. If your former employer gives you a bad reference, do you have any recourse?

A non-compete agreement is a contract between an employee and his or her employer that prohibits the employee from engaging in business activities that compete with the current employer’s business. These agreements can operate in the present (i.e., to prohibit “moonlighting”), or they can begin to run when the employee leaves his or her employment. They are also sometimes called “covenants not to compete” or “restrictive covenants.”

Working mothers often face hurdles above and beyond the day-to-day challenges of balancing a career and family. One of these is the difficulty and inconvenience of breastfeeding or expressing breast milk during working hours—a physical necessity that, until recently, hasn’t been protected by New Jersey law.