Employment Law

Congratulations, you got the job! Your happy news, however, was accompanied by an employment agreement. You’re supposed to sign it and return it to HR immediately. Should you be concerned? Here’s what you need to know to put your mind at ease.

As states start to gradually reopen businesses and encourage service providers to return to work, many employees with underlying health issues are worried. Especially in industries that involve a lot of contact with the public or where employees work in close quarters, it may be impossible to maintain the levels of social distancing that the CDC recommends.

Many employees are asked by their employer, either at the time of their hire or sometime during their employment, to sign an arbitration agreement. This can be a stand-alone agreement or a clause in an employment contract or handbook. Such an agreement asks the employee to agree that if they have a grievance with their employer, they will settle the dispute using binding arbitration rather than litigation. On one hand, arbitration is typically cheaper and resolves disputes more quickly than going to court, which can be very expensive and take months or even years to conclude. On the other hand, an employee who agrees to resolve any disputes using binding arbitration often gives up their rights to what may be more lucrative, more equitable, or more just compensation through the legal system. 

Formerly limited to high-level corporate employees, non-compete agreements are becoming a standard part of the pre-employment or onboarding packet for an increasing number of workers. In some situations, these contracts—also called “restrictive covenants”—can provide benefits for both an individual and their employer. However, companies often issue these restrictive covenants without negotiation to lower-wage and lower-level employees, for whom they provide little benefit and a potentially significant burden. How can you tell whether a non-competition agreement will be valuable or detrimental to your situation?

One of a new employee’s typical first tasks is to read through and complete a stack of paperwork: tax forms, employee handbooks, and other documents. More and more frequently, one of these forms is a non-compete agreement. You may wonder what this document means, how it alters your legal rights and career opportunities, and if your employer can require that you sign it. 

Non-compete agreements are becoming more and more common. Once limited to high-level employees in whom companies invested a great deal of time and trust, these restrictions are now frequently imposed without negotiation on lower-wage and lower-level employees. The laws regarding which non-compete agreements are enforceable vary from state to state, and pending legislation may soon dramatically alter how New Jersey determines which non-compete agreements are enforceable against its workers. 

New Jersey became the 14th state to allow medical marijuana when the New Jersey Compassionate Use Medical Cannabis Act (“CUMCA”) was signed into law on January 18, 2010. Recently, the act was amended to expand patient access to medical marijuana, to provide job protections to medical marijuana users, and to create new drug testing procedures. By doing so, New Jersey joined multiple other states—including Arizona, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New York, Oklahoma, and Rhode Island—that offer employment protections to users of medical marijuana in compliance with state regulations.