Legal Question in Employment Law in New Jersey

rights of an employee

My husband has been hired by big company for the full time position for specific project (he is a programmer). However this project didn’t start and he’s sitting without any work. He has been asked to help in another department and given some tasks. Software he needed to perform this work (he has e-mails he requested, but nobody answered), but he completed it anyway 1 day later than he should. Somebody expressed opinion (no facts) that he would not be able to do new project (my husband didn’t write a single line of code – no work.). My husband manager asked him to resign. My husband declined it. He’s with this company approximately 2 months: all his e-mails ignored and he’s sitting without any work. Total days with work was 2-3 days. Does he have any rights? Does this company violates any laws?


Asked on 10/12/07, 10:23 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
John Corbett Corbett Law Firm LLC

Re: rights of an employee

So long as he is being paid, he has no economic grievance. It makes sense that the company would prefer that he resign if they have no work for him (these things happen) because they then have reduced post-employment obligations to him. At this point, the problem is not really a legal one.

I spent a large part of my professional career as a manager of engineers and programmers at large companies. I think that your husband has the opportunity to get a positive result from this. The company wants him off the payroll but doesn't want to lay him off. (There can be legal problems with layoffs after only a short employment. UI is also a problem.) So, if he plays his cards right, he may be able to get permission to look for another job on company time and using company phones, copiers, etc. Even better, if the company uses a professional employment agency, they may connect him and he can get those services at no cost. The company may not be able to do anything about not having work but they are always interested in satisfied employees. So, if he takes the initiative toward a solution that's good for him, my guess is that they will support it.

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

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Answered on 10/12/07, 10:55 am


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