New Jersey is an at-will employment state.  That means that you have no guarantee to continued employment and that you can quit or be fired for any reason at any time.The exception to this is that you are not considered an at-will employee if you signed an employment contract that sets a certain duration of employment.  However, our experience has been that almost all employment contracts in New Jersey contain a provision stating that you are still an at-will employee.Nonetheless, New Jersey's employment laws prevent your employer for terminating you for a illegal reason, i.e. discrimination, harassment, whistle blower, etc. 

Just as I finished writing the blog on bullying at work, I was forwarded this  from Forbes. Interesting that 55% of non-management workers believe they are bullied by their boss.

Many people believe that it is illegal in New Jersey for a boss or supervisor to bully their subordinates.  This is certainly unfair and should not be permitted by the company.  However, New Jersey Employment Law does not protect employees from bullying and the hostile work environment that people experience as a result of the bullying.  It is only illegal if you can demonstrate that the bullying was due to a protected characteristic under the NJ Law Against Discrimination.  That means that you would need to show that the bullying was a result of your race, gender, religion, disability, sexual orientation or other protected characteristic.

We receive numerous calls a day about bullying in the workplace and, unfortunately, there is usually nothing we can do but suggest that the client report the conduct to Human Resources.  There is an anti0bullying law pending before the New Jersey Legislature, but it has not been signed into law and we do not expect that to happen in the near future.

We receive several calls a week from prospective clients asking how they can get out of the NJ non-compete agreement that they signed with their employer.  We hear that they did not know what they were signing at the time and didn't bother to read it when they started the job.  However, now they are looking to leave the company or have already left and learn that they cannot work for a competitor or in the industry for 1-2 years.

There are several ways to go about trying to get out of the restrictions set forth in the non-compete agreement.  First, you can try negotiating with your former employer to reduce the restrictions of the non-compete.  The success of this method will depend on the employer and the information that you will take t a competitor.  We have been successful in negotiating with the former employer to restrict not certain competitors and reducing the amount of time to a reasonable period.

Second, you can ask that your new employer indemnify you for any damages and/or attorneys fees resulting from any legal action brought by your former employer to enforce the non-compete agreement.  Your future employer may be sceptical of this because it does not want to cover these costs and potentially expose itself to liability and costs.

Finally, you can file a lawsuit seeking a declaratory judgment that the non-compete is invalid.  This option is the most expensive because of attorneys' fees associated with filing this type of action.

Contact our NJ non-compete lawyers for more information and to discuss your non-compete agreement.