Newark Passes Paid Sick Leave Ordinance

The City of Newark followed Jersey City’s lead as it passed an ordinance mandating certain employers to provide paid sick leave to its employees.  The Sick Leave for Private Employees ordinance requires all private Newark businesses to provide paid sick leave to their employees who work at least 80 hours per year in Newark.

Under the ordinance, employers with 10 or more employees are required to provide at least 40 hours of paid sick leave per year to their employees.  Employers with fewer than 10 employees are required to provide at least 24 hours of paid sick leave per year.  Employees who are child care workers, home health workers, and food service workers are permitted to accrue up to 40 hours of paid sick leave per year, even if the employer has fewer than 10 employees.

Newark employees earn one hour of sick time for every 30 hours worked, up to 40 hours per year.  Employees begin accruing sick time upon their first day of employment, but employers are not required to provide sick leave until the employee has worked for 90 days. 

The ordinance provides that employees may use paid sick time for their own or their family member’s illness.  Employers have the option of determining whether paid sick time may be used in increments of less than one day.  Employers are required to provide written, individual notice to their employees about their rights, and they also must display a poster containing notice of the ordinance.

The ordinance goes into effect on May 29, 2014.  Please feel free to contact Connell Foley’s employment law attorneys for guidance on implementing Newark’s paid sick leave ordinance or any other leave issue you may be facing.

Legislature Contemplates Bill Protecting Jobs During States of Emergency

The New Jersey Legislature is considering a Bill that would prohibit certain employment actions against employees who are affected by a state of emergency.  The Bill defines “state of emergency” as a disaster or emergency, whether natural or man-made, for which either the Governor or a municipal emergency management coordinator declares a state of emergency.

The legislation would prevent employers from discharging or taking any adverse employment action against an employee who is not working due to a state of emergency.  Employers also would be prohibited from requiring the employee to use any sick, vacation, personal, or other leave for the time he or she is not working.  The employer, however, would not be required to pay the employee if he or she is not actively working at the place of business, unless he or she is working remotely.

If an employer were to violate the legislation’s provisions, the Bill would impose a monetary penalty of up to $5000 for the first violation and up to $10,000 for each subsequent violation.  Connell Foley’s labor and employment law attorneys will continue to track this pending legislation.

New EEOC Publications on Religious Garb and Grooming

Last week, the EEOC issued two new publications addressing religious garb and grooming in the workplace.  The guides are designed to provide practical advice to employers and employees regarding the applicable law and case examples.

The publications clarify that Title VII employers must make exceptions to their general dress and grooming policies for those applicants and employees who adhere to religiously-mandated dress and grooming practices.  The publications state, however, that employers need not permit such exceptions if they would pose an undue hardship, such as a safety, security, or health concern.  As set forth in the publications, employers are not permitted to segregate employees based on their religious garb by, for example, assigning an employee to a non-customer contact position.  Moreover, employers cannot engage in disparate treatment, retaliation, or harassment based on religious belief or practice.

Employers may need to update their employee handbooks and workplace policies in order to reflect this new guidance from the EEOC.  Please feel free to contact Connell Foley’s employment law attorneys for assistance in implementing these guidelines and any other workplace policy issue your company may be facing.

Affordable Care Act Mandate Delayed for Employers

The Obama administration has announced that it is delaying the employer mandate for implementing certain provisions of the Affordable Care Act (“ACA”).  The ACA requires certain employers to provide healthcare coverage to their full-time employees.  The employer mandate originally was supposed to take effect in January 2014 but was delayed to January 2015 this past summer.  On Monday, February 10, 2014, the administration made further extensions.

Under these extensions, employers with between 50 and 99 employees now do not need to comply with the coverage requirement until 2016 (formerly 2015), but they face reporting requirements in the meantime.  Employers with 100 or more employees must offer coverage to 70 percent of their full-time employees by 2015, and, by 2016, they must provide 95% of their full-time employees with coverage.  Employers who fail to abide by these provisions face tax penalties.

The Obama administration stated that these delays provide “transition relief” for employers to adjust to the new requirements.  Connell Foley’s employment law attorneys welcome the opportunity to counsel employers regarding the ACA employer mandates.

NLRB Proposal: Amend Procedures for Representation Cases

Yesterday, the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) announced that it is reviving a proposed rule to change its procedures governing union-representation cases. 

The current process for a union election requires at least 30 percent of a company’s employees to file a petition with the NLRB showing interest in forming a union.  The employer and union then form an agreement for the election procedures, or the NLRB Regional Director orders the election and establishes conditions for the process.  Thereafter, the election is held typically within 30 days of the Director’s order, but the election may be postponed if either the employer or the union files a charge alleging the other party engaged in conduct that would interfere with the employee’s free choice in the election.

The NLRB intends the proposed amendments to serve as a mechanism for streamlining the union-election process and reducing election-related litigation.  Under the amended procedure, employers would have to delay legal challenges to the voting process, provide the union with its employees’ e-mail addresses and telephone numbers, and allow electronic filing of election materials.  The parties would also be under tighter deadlines for pre-election procedures.

Legal experts, including former NLRB Member Brian Hayes, opine that the election time period – from the date when workers file the petition to the actual voting date – would be significantly shortened as a result of these changes, thus giving rise to the terms “ambush” and “quickie” elections.  That shortened time period could have a significant impact on employers, as it would give them less time to inform their employees of the disadvantages of belonging to a union and to seek to persuade them to remain non-unionized.

The proposed changes resurrect the identical amendments the NLRB sought to implement in June 2011.  At that time, the NLRB published a notice of proposed rulemaking (“NPRM”), considered the input provided in response to the NPRM, and adopted a final rule.  Thereafter, in 2012, the District Court for the District of Columbia held the final rule invalid, indicating that it had been adopted without the requisite valid quorum.  Although the NLRB appealed the ruling, it later entered into a joint stipulation dismissing the appeal on December 9, 2013.

In connection with the current NPRM, the NLRB invites the public to comment on the proposed changes by April 7, 2014.  The NLRB will hold a public hearing to discuss the proposed amendments during that week.  Employers should stay tuned for new developments as the proposed rule, if adopted, will require employers to make significant changes to the way in which they approach elections.  The labor and employment attorneys at Connell Foley welcome the opportunity to counsel employers regarding these NLRB changes and any other NLRB matter.

NJLAD Amendment: Pregnancy is a Protected Category

On January 21, 2014, Governor Chris Christie signed into law the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination amendment prohibiting pregnancy discrimination in the workplace.  The amendment protects those who are “affected by pregnancy” and requires employers to provide those employees with workplace accommodations.  The amendment is effective immediately and applies to all New Jersey employers.

New Jersey employers should promptly update their employee handbooks and policies to reflect this new law.  They should also provide training for their managers to inform them of the changes this amendment entails.  Connell Foley’s employment law attorneys welcome the opportunity to assist employers in implementing these changes.

Effective Today: Jersey City Paid Sick Leave Ordinance

Jersey City passed Ordinance No. 13-097, which requires all Jersey City businesses with 10 or more employees to provide paid sick leave to its employees.  Employers with less than 10 employees must provide its employees with unpaid sick leave.

The ordinance applies to all full-time, part-time, and seasonal workers who work 80 hours in a calendar year in Jersey City.  Employees earn one hour of sick time for every 30 hours worked, up to 40 hours (or 5 days) per year.  Although employees begin accruing sick leave when they start working, employers are not required to give employees sick leave until they have worked for 90 days. 

Employees may use sick time in hourly increments, or the smallest unit of time the employer uses to account for absences or other time off.  They may use sick time for their own or a family member’s illness or preventative care.

Employers are required to provide written, individual notice to each of its employees about employee rights under the law.  Employers also must display a poster containing notice of the ordinance.

A copy of the ordinance can be found here.

Please feel free to contact Connell Foley’s employment law attorneys for guidance on implementing Jersey City’s sick leave ordinance or any other leave issue you may be facing.