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Employment Law

Review policy wording to ensure no e-Mail privacy rights

11/01/2006

New Jersey employers have every right to monitor their employees’ e-mail messages and computer usage so long as they have a strong electronic communications policy. That’s true even if the content might otherwise fall under attorney-client privilege …

Contracts should agree to litigate disputes in N.J.

11/01/2006

If you use independent contractors or have your employees sign any type of employment contract, make sure those agreements state that both parties agree to litigate any disputes in New Jersey. If the contract is silent on the issue—or, worse, says the lawsuit forum must be California or another inconvenient place—you may end up spending thousands of dollars on travel and lost time …

If state orders back pay, worker can’t file a second suit

11/01/2006

Good news for New Jersey employers: When the New Jersey Department of Labor reviews an employee’s unpaid-overtime claim and orders back pay, the employee can’t file a separate lawsuit in federal court asking for more money and attorneys’ fees to boot. Labor’s decision is final; case closed …

You can fire managers who ignore harassment complaints

11/01/2006

The best harassment policy in the world isn’t worth the paper it’s written on if employees don’t take it seriously. To show your policy has teeth, you have to let it bite …

Check workers’ EEOC, PHRC claims for errors

11/01/2006

If you receive an EEOC or PHRC complaint, don’t jump the gun to answer the charges. Carefully inspect the documents. If you don’t question obvious problems now, such as lack of a verified signature, you lose the right to raise that issue later …

Lesson From Tiffany’s Lawsuit: Don’t Ban On-Site Breast-Feeding

11/01/2006

New Jersey employers can’t interfere with employees or customers who breast-feed their children in public, as Tiffany and Co. learned the hard way …

‘Meetings’ on Religion/Politics May Violate New Intimidation Law

11/01/2006

Make sure your managers and supervisors know that politics and religion are individual choices and don’t belong in the workplace. Otherwise, you could face stiff fines or penalties under New Jersey’s new Worker Freedom from Intimidation Law …

Pregnancy of employee’s child may trigger FMLA leave

11/01/2006

The FMLA allows employees to take job-protected leave for the birth or adoption of their child. But can an employee legally take FMLA leave when his or her child is having a baby? In most situations, the answer is "no." But that’s not always the case …

You can delay disability accommodations for safety reasons

11/01/2006

While the ADA entitles disabled employees to workplace accommodations, it’s important to recognize that health and safety always take the front seat …

Infertility is considered a disability under ADA

11/01/2006

Employees who are infertile may qualify for reasonable accommodations under the ADA. That’s true even if the underlying medical condition that caused the infertility has been cured. As a result, you may be required to give infertile employees time off for fertility treatments and even adoption planning …