New Jersey Employment Lawyer Blog

President Obama spoke so eloquently upon signing the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, which I have blogged about previously, I thought it important to post his words here:

"So signing this bill today is to send a clear message: that making our economy work means making sure it works for everybody; that there are no second-class citizens in our workplaces; and that it's not just unfair and illegal, it's bad for business to pay somebody less because of their gender or their age or their race or their ethnicity, religion or disability; and that justice isn't about some abstract legal theory, or footnote in a casebook. It's about how our laws affect the daily lives and the daily realities of people: their ability to make a living and care for their families and achieve their goals.

Ultimately, equal pay isn't just an economic issue for millions of Americans and their families, it's a question of who we are -- and whether we're truly living up to our fundamental ideals; whether we'll do our part, as generations before us, to ensure those words put on paper some 200 years ago really mean something -- to breathe new life into them with a more enlightened understanding that is appropriate for our time."

Not much you can say after that, is there?

Posted by Steven Siegler | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Discrimination and Harassment

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The New Jersey Supreme Court recently held that 97 nurses who went on strike against their employer, Lourdes Medical Center of Burlington County, were entitled to collect unemployment benefits for the pay they lost during the strike. The Hospital argued that it should not have to subsidize striking employees by contributing to their unemployment benefits. However, the unemployment benefit statute, N.J.S.A. 43:21-5(d), provides that striking workers are entitled to collect benefits during a strike except when the strike causes a "stoppage of work." Here, the Hospital was able to find replacement nurses during the strike, maintain its patient and employee census, and continue business substantially as normal.

The Court reviewed the Legislature's purpose in originally enacting the unemployment benefits law. The law was passed in in the midst of the Great Depression, when unions and management were "locked in battle over issues ranging from employee demands for sustainable wages to improved working conditions," said Justice Barry Albin, in the 6-1 majority decision in Lourdes Medical Center of Burlington County v. Board of Review, A-70/71-07 (Jan. 27, 2009). Justice Albin stated that the Legislature intended the unemployment benefits law to be a "lifeline" for "ordinary men and women, who otherwise could not afford to leave work to protest for increased wages or decent working conditions," and to permit "labor to compete on a more equal playing field with management." Therefore, the nurses were within their rights to seek and collect unemployment benefits from the Hospital, despite the fact that they went on strike.

Kudos to the New Jersey Supreme Court for reaffirming and upholding the intent of unemployment benefits law. Nowadays, full access to unemployment benefits is more important than ever to New Jersey employees.

Posted by Steven Siegler | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Wage and Hour Claims

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