Legal Question in Employment Law in New Jersey

I work for a company in which it was required that I move to a specific location in New Jersey (at my own expense), which I agreed to. While planning that move, it was mandated that I move to a different location in New Jersey, so I changed my plans & searched for a place to live in that new location.

I moved in July and in August, Management came out with a new mandate that the hub locations had again changed, and now we had to work in a different location - the closest one being in New York City, over 50 miles away. We were given until June, 2010 to make that change.

In October, things changed again & everyone working in my position in the State of New Jersey was fired. We were told that we could keep our jobs if we agreed to work in New York City, starting at the end of December. We were forced to reapply for our jobs, but were told our employment was guaranteed. We all agreed because, with this economy, none of us could afford to be out of a job.

My question is do I have any recourse because I moved to the location they originally mandated, only to be told a month later that the location had changed again & then basically being forced to make a move or face unemployment? They had to have know before I moved that they were going to change the hub locations again. I'm now forced to commute over 50 miles a day, at great expense, as we were not given any compensation for the added commute, and this was not an expense I had counted on. I had already moved to a more expensive area than I orginally planned because they changed the first location I was supposed to move to.

Any advice you could give would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you.

Angel


Asked on 2/08/10, 8:54 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
John Corbett Corbett Law Firm LLC

So long as you are working for the same company, it would be difficult to pursue any legal claim for damages. There is some case law to the effect that the employer has an obligation to keep a job open for a reasonable time after an employee moves in reliance on that job, but these are fact-specific and the dispute is usually litigated after the employment ends.

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

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Answered on 2/15/10, 9:28 pm


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