From JDSupra, Patrick McGovern discusses a New Jersey case in which an appellate court allowed a misclassification claim to proceed even though the company signed an independent contractor agreement with separate corporations. Patrick writes: The Appellate Division held that “a court is not limited to the terms of the contract between the parties” and the…
From Lexology, Liz Kramer discusses recent cases in Missouri and New Jersey in which the court did not require arbitration because the administrator no longer provides arbitration services and because the arbitration clause did not indicate who would administer the arbitration. Liz writes: This post is aimed at drafters of arbitration clauses. Because if…
From JDSupra, Rachel Mongiello reports on a recent case in New Jersey in which the court would not compel arbitration despite an arbitration clause because the clause did not select a forum or institution like the American Arbitration Association for conducting the arbitration. Because arbitration clauses are valuable protections against class action lawsuits alleging miclassification of…
From FreightWaves, Chad Prevost discusses changes to the regulations issued by the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce that mean that owner-operators must satisfy the ABC test instead of the common law test to be exempt from New Jersey unemployment taxes. Chad writes: Yesterday, the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development published notice…
From JDSupra, Jason Silver and Howard Wexler report on the cooperation agreement signed by the United States Department of Labor (DOL) and the state of New Jersey that provides that they will work together to investigate claims of misclassification. They write: The cooperation agreement comes three months after Governor Phil Murphy signed an Executive Order establishing the…
From WBGO, Phil Gregory reports on a bill in the New Jersey legislature that would protect freelancers, along the lines of the Freelancing Isn’t Free Act (FIFA) adopted by New York City. Phil writes: Assemblyman Andrew Zwicker says his bill would require businesses that have a written contract with a freelance worker to compensate…
From JDSupra, Mark Tabakman discusses his experience applying the ABC test in New Jersey. Since California adopted the ABC in recent decision, many commentators have focused on Part B -whether the work is done outside the usual course of business. Mark’s experience is that Part C – whether the worker is an independent business — is…
From JDSupra, Patrick McGovern reports on a new commission to investigate misclassification in the construction industry. Patrick writes: On May 3, 2018 New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy signed Executive Order No. 25 which authorizes a 12-person task force to review misclassification of workers as independent contractors in New Jersey, with a focus on the construction industry. …
From Law360, Jeannie O’Sullivan discusses proposed legislation in New Jersey that would provide basic protections for freelancers similar to the Freelance Isn’t Free Act in New York City. Jeannie writes: Attorneys are among the professionals exempted from a proposal advanced by New Jersey lawmakers Monday that establishes protections for freelancers, such as timely payment assurance…
From JDSupra, Mark Tabakman discusses a recent New Jersey case in which pyrotechnicians were determined to be independent contractors. Mark writes: I have handled almost 100 unemployment insurance audits by the New Jersey DOL, where the underlying gravamen is that certain individuals are or are not independent contractors. The Auditors enforce the law very strictly and…