Amazon's Misclassification Strips Workers' Safety Net

When a back injury should mean temporary disability benefits, but instead means choosing between rent and recovery—that's the hidden cost of worker misclassification. New Jersey's recent lawsuit against Amazon exposes how labeling employees as independent contractors strips away critical workers' compensation protections, leaving injured workers financially vulnerable during their most precarious moments.

Joint Special Employer: Dual Liability

The complex issue of employment status, specifically whether an individual can be considered a "joint special employer" in the context of workers' compensation was the subject of a recent court ruling. The New Jersey Superior Court, Appellate Division, examined the case of Joseph Vola, a police officer injured while on an extra traffic duty assignment for Asplundh Tree Experts, arranged through the City of Northfield.

Student Athlete Employment Status Still A Coin Toss

Tangible benefits produced by "amateur" college athletes to identifiable institutions, ie. NCAA Colleges are held to deserve compensation. The Third Circuit Federal Court of Appeals ruled recently as it analyzed employment status.

NJ Targets Rampant Misclassification of Drywall Workers

In its second strategic enforcement initiative, focusing on the drywall industry, the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development (NJDOL) reached a first-of-its-kind enhanced compliance agreement with Donald Drywall, L.L.C. of Lakewood after investigators found the subcontractor had committed numerous wage and hour, earned sick leave, and employee misclassification violations.

Employers Fined $1.3 Million for MIsclassification of Workers Including Failure to Have Adequate Workers' Compensation Insurance

The State of New Jersey is strictly enforcing laws that mandate a worker's employment status be properly reported and that employers provide adequate workers' compensation insurance coverage. The state has some of the strictest laws in the country and they are being enforced vigorously through a multi-agency protocol.

Dual Employment and the Proposed NLRB Joint-Employer Standard

Workers’ compensation claims may be pursued against two companies if there is found to be joint employment. While case law defines employment status, the US National Labor Relations Board has issued a proposed Rule to substantiate a dual employer status.

NJDOL Uses Expanded Powers to Stop Worker Exploitation at Job Sites

In the three years since Governor Murphy signed a law expanding NJDOL’s powers to stop work on a job site when there is strong evidence workers are being exploited, the department has issued 71 stop-work orders, through which agents found nearly $1 million in back wages owed to 235 workers. 

Limited Liability Corporation Is Bound by Election of Coverage for Members

The NJ Appellate Division ruled that the members of a Limited Liability Corporation had an affirmative responsibility to elect workers' compensation coverage. Since the corporation failed to do so, liability cannot be shifted to the Workers' Compensation insurance producer or the insurance company.

NJ Enacts Legislation to Protect New Jersey Workers, Employers From Unlawful Misclassification

Building on his commitment to making sure that workers and employers in New Jersey are treated fairly, Governor Phil Murphy today signed a four-bill legislative package furthering state efforts to stop employee misclassification. 

NJ Successfully Targets Employee Misclassification

In response to a report issued by Governor Murphy’s Task Force on Employee Misclassification, the New Jersey Department of the Treasury has made significant strides to deter misclassification by organizations that do business with the State in order to help address the underlying causes that lead to ever-widening income inequality.

When is an off-regular-hours activity not in the course of the employment?

The NJ Supreme Court is deliberating on the issue of whether an an employee should receive workers’ compensation if an injured occurred at an off-regular-hours event. The issue presented to the Court was whether an employee is entitled to benefits under the Workers’ Compensation Act, specifically N.J.S.A. 34:15-7, for injuries that occurred while she was volunteering at her employer’s “Family Fun Day” event?

US DOL Proposes New Rule Defining Independent Contractor Status

The U.S. Department of Labor today announced a proposed rule clarifying the definition of employee under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) as it relates to independent contractors.

Employment Status: NCAA Division 1 Player Not an Employee

The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the district court’s dismissal of a Division I college football player’s claim that he was an employee of the National Collegiate Athletic Association and the PAC-12 Conference within the meaning of the Fair Labor Standards Act and California labor law and thus entitled to minimum wage and overtime pay.

NJ Governor’s Report on Misclassification

Governor Phil Murphy today released a comprehensive report from the Task Force on Employee Misclassification, vowing to intensify efforts to curtail the widespread and illegal practice of misclassifying workers as independent contractors instead of employees, which cheats some workers out of benefits and wages, hurts law-abiding business owners, and costs the state tens of millions of dollars a year in lost employment-related tax revenue.

Trump's Gig Economy

Today's guest author is Jon Rehm, Esq. of the Nebraska bar.

The United States Department of Labor (DOL) published an opinion letter that would seem to exempt most so-called “gig economy” companies from federal wage and hour enforcement.

Employment Status Not Dependent on Exercising the Right to Control

Who an employee works for is determined by whether an employer may control the employee and not the exercise of the right. A NJ Appellate Court ruled in a dual employment issue that employment status is not dispositive by a single factor and that right to control an employee can be shared which establishes a dual employment situation.

Taxi cab driver awarded workers compensation benefits

A New Jersey appellate court held that a taxi cab driver should be considered employee under both the "right to control test" and “the nature of the work test.” The Court further held that the parties are bound by a prior unreported decision from the appellate court since the parties were the same.

NJ Labor Department, USDOL Ink Agreement to Work Together to Protect Businesses and End Exploitation of Workers through Misclassification

The New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development and the U.S Department of Labor pledged a historic new level of cooperation to protect New Jersey’s economy by signing an agreement on August 10, 2018 to work together to end illegal employee misclassification.

Exclusivity Rule: Police Officer Hired to Direct Traffic Was a Special Employee-Unpublished Opinion

A municipal police officer who was hired by a contractor to direct traffic at a construction site was determined to be a “special employee” and barred from suing a co-worker of the construction company. The NJ Appellate Court has held, in an unpublished opinion*, the  “Exclusivity Rule” barred the institution of a civil action against a co-worker.

Employment Status: Common Law Tests May Need an Update

The application of the common-law standard to determine employment status may no longer be relevant in the age of the gig economy. The NJ Appellate Division ruled that the common law test utilized to determine employment status could not be utilized in the interpretation of a medical malpractice insurance policy.