Flu Season's Hidden Workers' Compensation Cost

As healthcare facilities across the nation report surging respiratory illness cases, the spotlight has turned once again to protecting those on the front lines of medicine. Recent surveillance data reveal a troubling trend: flu activity is increasing rapidly across the United States, with cases and hospitalizations rising by 78% and 53% respectively, in some states, while emergency department visits for influenza have more than doubled in certain regions.

Chevron Falls: Workers' Compensation Survives

A year ago, we examined how the Supreme Court's landmark decision in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo might reshape the workers' compensation landscape, particularly regarding Medicare Set-Aside (MSA) agreements and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' (CMS) administration of the Medicare Secondary Payer (MSP) Act. Now, with twelve months of hindsight, we can assess what has actually transpired—and what remains uncertain.

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.

NJ Fights Worker Misclassification

Worker misclassification has become a significant battleground in New Jersey, with state labor officials taking increasingly aggressive action against employers who improperly classify employees as independent contractors. Recent enforcement actions demonstrate the state's commitment to protecting workers' rights and ensuring access to crucial benefits.

Algorithmic Burnout: Amazon's Warehouse Workers Under Siege

In a groundbreaking investigation, the United States Senate has exposed a disturbing reality within Amazon's warehouse operations: a systemic approach to worker productivity that comes at an unprecedented human cost. The report reveals a stark and troubling correlation between the company's relentless pursuit of efficiency and the physical well-being of its workforce.

Luxury Car Transporter Pays $455K for Misclassifying Drivers

The State of New Jersey continues to diligently pursue violations of employment status misclassification and independent contractor relationships. 

Senate Blasts Amazon Over High Injury Rates

According to an interim investigation report by Senator Bernie Sanders and the Senate HELP Committee into Amazon's warehouse safety practices, warehouse workers continue to suffer excessive occupational injuries. The report focuses on peak seasons like Prime Day and the holiday season.

Trench Injury Not an Intentional Wrong

A Federal Court held that injuries sustained while cleaning a trench conveyor trim removal system at a paper manufacturing facility did not meet the threshold test for an intentional tort.

Misclassification Lawsuit Filed by NJ Attorney General

Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin and New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development (NJDOL) Commissioner Robert Asaro-Angelo announced today that they have filed the first lawsuit under a 2021 law that permits the State to file suit in New Jersey Superior Court against employers who have misclassified workers as independent contractors when they are, in fact, employees.

NJ Enforces Laws Against Worker Exploitation

In the four years since Governor Murphy expanded the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development's (NJDOL) powers in 2019 to halt work on job sites when there is strong evidence of worker exploitation, over 110 stop-work orders have been issued and more than $2.7 million in back wages owed to affected workers, liquidated damages, and penalties have been assessed. 

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.

NJ Industry Groups Challenge The Temporary Workers’ Rights Law

In February 2023, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy signed a new law that would give temporary workers in the state more protections.

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.

Time to Boot Up a Computer Held to be Working

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the district court’s summary judgment in favor of defendant Customer Connexx LLC and remanded for further proceedings in a collective action brought under the Fair Labor Standards Act by call center workers.

Uber Pays $100M Fine in NJ Driver Misclassification Case

Uber Technologies Inc. and a subsidiary have submitted a $100 million payment to the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development’s (NJDOL’s) Unemployment Trust Fund after an audit found the ride-share companies improperly classified hundreds of thousands of drivers as independent contractors, depriving them of crucial safety-net benefits such as unemployment, temporary disability, and family leave insurance, and failed to make required contributions toward unemployment, temporary disability, and workforce development.

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. 

NJ Landscaper Ordered by Federal Court to Pay $400K in Back Wages and Damages to 32 Workers.

A federal court has approved a consent judgment ordering a Succasunna landscaping company and its owner to pay $400,000 in back wages and damages after the U.S. Department of Labor found the employer denied 32 of its workers the overtime pay they earned.

NJDOL, Treasury Raid Worksite in First Joint-Enforcement Action to Combat Worker Misclassification

A team of more than 60 investigators from the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development (NJDOL) and the Department of the Treasury, supported by other state agencies, conducted an unannounced investigation of a construction site at 88 Regent Street in Jersey City in response to allegations of worker misclassification. 

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 Governor Murphy Signs Legislation and Executive Order Ending COVID-19 Public Health Emergency

With all COVID-19 capacity restrictions on businesses and gathering limits having been lifted due to the continued improvement of New Jersey’s public health metrics, Governor Phil Murphy today signed legislation (A5820/S3866) enabling the end of the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency that has been in place since March 9, 2020. Immediately following the signing of the legislation, Governor Murphy signed Executive Order No. 244, ending the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency. Under the legislation, the majority of executive orders issued pursuant to the Public Health Emergency will expire 30 days from today.