Hanlon Niemann Blog | A Freehold, New Jersey Law Firm

The Federal FMLA provides that employees may take 12 weeks of unpaid leave from their jobs when they have a serious medical condition or must care for a family member with a serious medical condition.  The FMLA only applies to employers with 50 or more employees and employees must meet certain conditions to be eligible for leave.  An employer must not retaliate against an employee for exercising his or her rights under the FMLA.  New Jersey also has a similar statute, the New Jersey Family Leave Act, which provides different but related rights to employees.  New Jersey law does not require an employer to have a minimum number of employees to be subject to the law and is also more pro employee than its federal counterpart.  To learn more about employee rights and employer requirements under the FMLA, contact Lauren Bercik at 732-863-9900 or LBercik@hnlawfirm.com.

The FLSA requires that employers pay employees a certain minimum wage and pay certain “non-exempt” employees overtime at the rate of one-and-one-half-times their regular rate of pay.  Employers regularly violate this rule by classifying employees who should be non-exempt as exempt to avoid paying them overtime wages.  Other employers violate the FLSA when they offer employees “comp time” instead of paying the required overtime. 

To learn more about employee rights and employer obligations under the FLSA, visit the Department of Labor’s page on the topic here.  Also keep in mind that many states have minimum wages laws higher than the federal minimum.  For instance, while the federal minimum wage is currently $5.15 per hour, New Jersey and New York require employers to pay $7.15 per hour.  If you are not being paid the minimum wage or work more than 40 hours per week without receiving overtime pay, you should contact Lauren Bercik at 732-863-9900 or LBercik@hnlawfirm.com to discuss your rights.