Bill Text: NJ A281 | 2022-2023 | Regular Session | Amended

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Bill Title: Expands wage and hour law good-faith violation defense to DOLWD employee interpretations; establishes procedure for employer to obtain opinion from DOLWD on overtime obligations.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 2-0)

Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2022-06-02 - Received in the Senate, Referred to Senate Labor Committee [A281 Detail]

Download: New_Jersey-2022-A281-Amended.html

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[First Reprint]

ASSEMBLY, No. 281

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

220th LEGISLATURE

 

PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2022 SESSION

 

 

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; establishes procedure for employer to obtain opinion from DOLWD on overtime obligations.

 

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT

     As reported by the Assembly Labor Committee on March 10, 2022, with amendments.

  

An Act concerning good-faith faith wage and hour violations by employers and amending P.L.1967, c.216 ¹and supplementing P.L.1966, c.113 (C.34:11-56a et seq.)¹.

 

     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.    a. 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 any¹:

     (1)¹ 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 representative¹[, or any];

     (2)¹ administrative practice or enforcement policy of [such] the department or [bureau] division with respect to the class of  employers to which he belonged¹;

     (3) opinion or ruling that the employer obtained from the department or the division stating the employer's obligations under the overtime provisions in the "New Jersey State Wage and Hour Law," P.L.1966, c.113 (C.34:11-56a et seq.), in accordance with section 2 of P.L.    , c.    (C.         ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill); or

     (4) ruling or determination by a representative of the department or the division resulting from an investigation of the employer's overtime practices that concludes that the employer did not commit a violation¹.

     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)

 

     ¹2.   Within two months from the effective date of P.L.    c.    (C.        ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill), the Department of Labor and Workforce Development shall establish a procedure for an employer to request and obtain an opinion or ruling from the department stating the employer's obligations under the overtime provisions in the "New Jersey State Wage and Hour Law," P.L.1966, c.113 (C.34:11-56a et seq.).  Upon written request from an employer for an opinion or ruling of the employer's overtime obligations, including but not limited to, an electronic request submitted on the department's internet website, the department shall, within two weeks of receipt of the request, issue a written opinion or ruling stating the employer's overtime obligations.  The department shall prominently display on its internet website the procedure and all information, or a link to the information, required for an employer to submit a request for an opinion or ruling in accordance with this section.¹

 

     ¹[2.] 3.¹     This act shall take effect immediately.