A281

Sponsored by:

Assemblyman BRANDON UMBA

District 8 (Atlantic, Burlington and Camden)

Assemblyman MICHAEL TORRISSI, JR.

District 8 (Atlantic, Burlington and Camden)

Co-Sponsored by:

Assemblywoman Sawyer

SYNOPSIS

Expands wage and hour law good-faith violation defense to DOLWD employee interpretations.

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT

Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel.

An Act concerning good-faith faith wage and hour violations by employers and amending P.L.1967, c.216.

Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:

1. Section 2 of P.L.1967, c.216 (C.34:11-56a25.2) is amended to read as follows:

2. In any action or proceeding commenced prior to or on or after the date of the enactment of this act based on any act or omission prior to or on or after the date of the enactment of this act, no employer shall be subject to any liability or punishment for or on account of the failure of the employer to pay minimum wages or overtime compensation under this act, if he pleads and proves that the act or omission complained of was in good faith in conformity with and in reliance on any written administrative regulation, order, ruling, approval or interpretation by the Commissioner of [the Department of Labor and Industry] Labor and Workforce Development, or the commissioner’s authorized representative, or the Director of the [Wage and Hour Bureau] Division of Wage and Hour Compliance, or the director’s authorized representative, or any administrative practice or enforcement policy of [such] the department or [bureau] division with respect to the class of employers to which he belonged. Such a defense, if established, shall be a complete bar to the action or proceeding, notwithstanding, that after such act or omission, such administrative regulation, order, ruling, approval, interpretation, practice, or enforcement policy is modified or rescinded or is determined by judicial authority to be invalid or of no legal effect. For the purposes of this section, “authorized representative” means an employee of the Department of Labor and Workforce Development or the Division of Wage and Hour Compliance, as appropriate, operating within the scope of his or her normal responsibilities.

(cf: P.L.1967, c.216, s.2)

2. This act shall take effect immediately.

STATEMENT

This bill provides that the good faith defense against violations of the “New Jersey State Wage and Hour Law” based on an administrative regulation, ruling, approval, or interpretation by the Commissioner of Labor and Workforce Development or the Director of the Division of Wage and Hour Compliance be
expanded to include regulations, rulings, approval, or interpretation by the authorized representatives of the commissioner or director. Current law only provides the good faith defense for decisions made by the commissioner or the director themselves. For the purposes of this section, “authorized representative” means an employee of the Department of Labor and Workforce Development or the Division of Wage and Hour Compliance, as appropriate, operating within the scope of his or her normal responsibilities.

This bill is in response to the issues raised by Branch v. Cream-O-Land Dairy, 459 N.J. Super. 529 (App. Div. 2019) concerning a violation of the law that was upheld as a violation because the corrective ruling which the violator sought regarding compliance was made by an employee of the Department of Labor and Workforce Development, and not the commissioner.