HR Specialist: New Jersey Employment Law

New Jersey’s complicated laws make it extra dicey for employers. Aggressive attorneys don’t stop with federal laws like FMLA, ADA and FLSA: they use state and local living-wage statutes, rural codes, plus discrimination and other laws to sue employers for sky’s-the-limit damages. This New Jersey-specific newsletter arrives monthly to help sue-proof every aspect of HR. Written in plain English, it’s your insurance policy for staying in step with current interpretations of state and local laws – and staying out of court. Learn more about HR Specialist: New Jersey Employment Law and the free report you’ll get when you subscribe...

Employees nearing the end of their 12 weeks of FMLA leave have the right to know when it will expire. You can’t simply calculate when the time will run out and not give a “heads up.” In fact, silence may operate as an unspoken extension.

What’s more, expect an FMLA lawsuit if you then refuse to reinstate the employee because she took too much leave. Then a jury will decide whether keeping the information from the employee warrants a big award.

Recent case: Christine Spagnoli, who worked at Brown & Brown, took time off for medical fertility procedures. Although the HR office tracked her FMLA leave, it never told Spagnoli exactly when it would run out.

When she had complications and was hospitalized, she thought she still had FMLA leave in the bank. In fact, the company told her it expected her to come back and never told her she was almost out of time. Internal documents show the company knew and planned to discharge her for exceeding her entitlement.

She sued, and the court ordered a trial based on the apparently misleading communications Spagnoli received while ill. (Spagnoli v. Brown & Brown, No. 06-414, DC NJ, 2007)