Legal Question in Employment Law in New Jersey

My employer has been paying us late (a few days after the stated payday) so I finally called the Department of Labor. When my employer found out (he heard it through office gossip and had no evidence it was me who called) he called me into his office and told me how angry he was with me and tried to act intimidating (I admitted and denied nothing and every time I tried to talk he told me he didn't want to hear from me). Later that evening at a staff meeting he announced he was changing the paydays to 3 days after the current ones and that is anyone was upset they could blame me (said my name and indicated me) because I had caused this. Is there anything I can do besides just calling the Department of Labor back and saying he was retaliating against me? I'm afraid he is going to start trying to make my life at work bad enough to make me quit.


Asked on 1/27/10, 12:50 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
John Corbett Corbett Law Firm LLC

Take good notes - - seriously. The NJ CEPA protects employees against retaliation for asserting their rights by reporting violations of the law. To win a CEPA suit, evidence of the retaliation and proof of a causal connection between the report and the retaliation is necessary. You won't have a mature cause of action on which a suit might be based unless and until there is retaliation. What has happened to date might suffice, but it wouldn''t get much by way of damages. However, if a suit becomes appropriate, a good record of dates and times is invaluable. So is any correspondence or other documentary evidence. BTW, the NJ Wage and Hours law requires that the payday be designated in advance. So, an employer can't change a payday that applies to prior earnings.

See also: http://info.corbettlaw.net/lawguru.htm

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Answered on 2/01/10, 1:37 pm


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