New Jersey Employment Lawyer Blog

New Jersey is home to over two thousand employment agencies, consulting firms, and career consulting or outplacement agencies, according to the latest government figures. http://www.state.nj.us/lps/ca/proposal/person107.htm. Many of these firms provide highly educated and highly skilled consultants to the State's largest employers, including those in the pharmaceutical, chemical, insurance, and financial industries. Employment agencies typically require its consultants to sign non-compete agreements before they commence working with an end-client. They do so to prevent the consultant from "eliminating the middleman" and working for the end-client directly. But are these non-competes enforceable?

One defense to non-compete litigation which my firm has used to good effect is based on the New Jersey Employment and Personnel Services Act. This law requires employment agencies and temporary help firms to obtain a license from, or register with, the New Jersey Division of Consumer Protection. If the employment firm is not in compliance with this law, any contracts it makes with its consultants, including non-compete agreements, are unenforceable. Surprisingly, many employment agencies are either unaware of this law or don't care enough to comply. They are in for a very rude awakening when they sue one of my clients.

I would suggest that if you are asked to sign a non-compete by your employment agency, do a quick search at http://www.njconsumeraffairs.gov/ocp/agency.pdf to determine whether the agency is properly registered or licensed. Then get some advice from an experienced non-compete attorney who can lay out your legal options and give you the advice you need to move forward.

Posted by Steven Siegler | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Non-Compete Agreements

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When you receive a severance package from your employer, don’t immediately assume that it’s non-negotiable. You may have more leverage than you know. A skilled and knowledgeable employment attorney can identify where you have leverage and use it to get you more severance pay.

The first and most important thing you need to know is that you already have some leverage to begin with. When your employer offers you a severance package, they are, in essence, asking you to sell away some of your most valuable rights. And believe me, your employer is very motivated to buy this “property” from you. Why are they so motivated? Because if your employer can get you to sign that piece of paper, they can forget about you. You can’t sue them, ever, for anything they did or did not do from the beginning of time to the moment you sign the package. Most of the time, you can’t even complain about them publicly. Some times, they restrict you from working down the street for a competitor. Your right to sue, your vow of silence, your right to compete – the rights you are “selling” have a value. Your employer sets the “buy” price when it puts that severance package in front of you. Before you “sell” your rights away in a severance package, consult an employment lawyer and find out whether the “buy” price your employer is offering is fair.

I’ve had to turn away many potential clients because they didn’t understand the concept of leverage and went ahead and signed their severance package without consulting an attorney. Never, ever, sign something you don’t fully understand. Do the research, find a decent employment attorney, and spend the money for a comprehensive severance package review. Even employees without much leverage in the legal sense can have leverage in other areas, which I will save for a later post.

Posted by Steven Siegler | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Employment Contracts , Non-Compete Agreements , Severance Negotiations

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New Jersey's Law Against Discrimination prohibits employers from taking adverse actions against their employees on the basis of race, gender, age, religion, sexual preference, disability, or membership in other protected categories. The law does not prohibit an employer from taking negative actions against employees for other reasons, such as nepotism, favoritism, office politics, and the like. Yet employees who lose their jobs for these reasons, or who endure harassment or bullying which is not “discriminatory” in the legal sense, often suffer the same emotional and financial upset as do victims of unlawful discrimination. What are some strategies for dealing with unfair treatment in the workplace?

I would advise anyone experiencing negative treatment in the workplace to immediately begin to diary or journal the events as they occur. If the situation worsens and becomes legally actionable down the road, the written record can be important evidence in your case. In addition, the act of writing down your problems can have a cathartic and healing effect.

Next, you should report the unfair treatment to your Company’s human resources department, preferably in writing. Yes, I know, they won’t do anything about it. But, again, the main reason for making the report is to create a paper trail which may come in handy down the road. There is also the slight chance that they actually listen to you and try to help you.

If you have documented and reported the unfair treatment and it still persists, you should seriously consider changing jobs. Situations like these tend get worse over time, not better. I’m speaking from personal experience, as well as what I’ve learned from counseling employees for the last ten years. You will wind up quitting or getting fired some time down the road anyway, and in the meantime you will be extremely stressed out, lose sleep, get depressed, angry, or anxious, all of which can lead to more serious health problems. No job is worth losing your health. The decision to leave a job on your own terms, on your own timetable, is an empowering one. Just make sure your job search does not interfere with your current job duties or violate any non-compete agreements you may have signed. It goes without saying that you should never quit a job until you have secured a new one.

If you are an employee caught in the gray area between unfair treatment and illegal discrimination or retaliation, consider speaking to a competent employment attorney who can lay out your options and help you make an informed decision about your next career move.

Posted by Steven Siegler | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Discrimination and Harassment , Non-Compete Agreements , Severance Negotiations , Whistleblower Retaliation

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