HR Alerts

Dec 2022

Minimum Wage

New Jersey’s minimum wage for most workers will increase to $14.13 per hour beginning January 1, 2023.  

Maximum Benefit Rates

The NJ Department of Labor has increased the maximum weekly benefits for claims filed in 2023:

Workers’ Compensation Rate: $1,099 per week

Temporary Disability Benefit Rate: $1,025 per week

Family Leave Insurance: $1,025 per week

Unemployment Compensation Rate: $830 per week.

Unemployment Penalties

Governor Murphy has signed new legislation aimed at expediting the speed at which unemployment claims are paid out.  The new law also imposes harsher penalties on employers who don’t provide information about jobless claims within seven days to the NJ Department of Labor – from $25 every 10 days to $500 daily.

Mar 2023

Employers face innumerable HR law challenges in a complex and changing workplace. Responding to EANJ member surveys and focus groups, the purpose of EANJ’s HR Risk Management Solution is to provide an individualized, comprehensive and coordinated support to employers by assessing the risks presented by current anti-discrimination and anti-harassment policies and practices and to recommend alternatives to mitigate those risks. The risk assessment necessarily covers the employer’s current compliance with relevant HR laws, rules and other workplace policies and procedures.
 
Learn more here

Feb 2023

In 2022, U.S. employee engagement continued its fall, slipping to 32%, while 18% are actively disengaged. Active disengagement increased by two percentage points from 2021 and four points from 2020, according to Gallup.  Employee engagement is defined as the involvement and enthusiasm of employees in their work and workplace.

Gallup’s annual survey measures several workplace elements, including employees’ level of agreement about clarity of expectations, opportunities for development and their opinions counting at work. In short, engaged employees are involved in and enthusiastic about their work and workplace. Actively disengaged employees are disgruntled and disloyal because most of their workplace needs are unmet.

According to Gallup, the biggest obstacle to increasing employee engagement is that it is widely considered “an HR thing.” Employee engagement is not owned by executives, expected by managers nor understood by front-line employees.  What is HR’s role?  Here’s a start.

Sep 2022

The NJ Division on Civil Rights (DCR) has updated its employer posting requirements to allow for electronic posting of notices and to include an annual distribution component. 

Employers covered by the NJ Law Against Discrimination (LAD) and the NJ Family Leave Act (FLA) are required to display the official employment posters for each law in places easily visible to all employees and applicants for employment.  In  the event an employer has an internet or intranet site for use by its employee and to which all  employees have access, posting of the official DCR notices on the site will now satisfy the laws’ posting requirements.

Additionally, DCR will now require employers provide each employee with a written copy of the official employment poster annually, on or before December 31st of each year, and upon the first request of an employee.  It will be acceptable for the notification to be sent out via email; through printed material; or through an internet or intranet website provided the employer provides notice to the employees of its posting.  

Employers can find copies of the official posters, which are used for both posting and distributing, on DCR’s website.

Sep 2022

The New Jersey Cannabis Regulatory Commission (NJ-CRC) is charged with prescribing standards for a Workplace Impairment Recognition Expert (WIRE) certification, to be issued to full- or part-time employees, or others contracted to perform services on behalf of an employer. In the absence of standards to date, NJ-CRC is permitting employers to designate an interim staff member or third party contractor to assist with making determinations of suspected cannabis use during an employee’s prescribed work hours.

Visit EANJ’s Employer Resource page for details.

Aug 2022

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has revised its guidance on whether employers can test employees for COVID. Employers are now advised to have a “business necessity” assessment, including: the level of community transmission; the vaccination status of employees; the ease of transmissibility of the current variant(s); and the types of contacts employees may have with others in the workplace or elsewhere that they are required to work.

Read more on EANJ Employer COVID Resource  

Jul 2022

In Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, decided on June 24th, The U.S. Supreme Court held that the U.S. Constitution does not confer any right to an abortion and therefore each state must decide for itself to allow, limit or restrict the procedure.  New Jersey law preserves the right to an abortion. Most insurance companies in New Jersey provide coverage for abortion.  However, the Affordable Care Act does not require health insurance plans to cover abortion services.  Employers should check their plans and call their brokers or insurance companies.   Many employers have employees throughout the U.S. and states may prohibit abortion services.  In that case, employers may consider assisting employees with the cost of travel to obtain care out-of-state but should consult with counsel  to consider how that is done and the tax treatment of such benefits. 

Jun 2022

It is estimated that nearly one in five U.S. adults live with a mental illness.  The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division has made available resources for employers to better understand how to comply with the FMLA when it comes to mental health conditions.  An eligible employee may take FMLA leave for their own serious health condition or to care for a spouse, child or parent because of their serious health condition, which can include a mental health condition.  Learn more here.

May 2022

Twelve dispensaries in New Jersey have been approved to sell cannabis items and products commercially. “Cannabis item” means any usable cannabis, cannabis product, cannabis extract, and any other cannabis resin. “Cannabis product” means a product containing usable cannabis,  extract, or any other cannabis resin and other ingredients intended for human consumption or use, including a product intended to be applied to the skin or hair, edible cannabis products, ointments, and tinctures. Employers are prohibited from taking adverse action against employees that use cannabis items and products.
 
Join Andree Laney, Esq on June 2nd for a complete overview of the N.J. Cannabis Regulatory, Enforcement Assistance, and Marketplace Modernization Act and what it means for employers.  Details and registration for Marijuana and the NJ Workplace.

Apr 2022

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has published a One-Stop COVID Resource connecting employers and employees with more information about COVID-19 spread, prevention, and treatment in their communities.
 
Visit EANJ Employer Resource page