New Jersey Lawyers BlogNew Jersey Supreme Court Decision on Classification of Workers is a Cautionary Tale for Employers
Independent Contractors versus Employees Under New Jersey Employment Law
Under New Jersey employment law, the classification of a worker as an employee or independent contractor has significant ramifications for both the employer and employee, including the ability of the employer to shift the cost of insurance, payroll taxes and benefits to the employee, and relieving it from having to pay time and a half for overtime. The New Jersey Supreme Court explained in the seminal case of
Hargrove vs. Speepy’s LLC, that there are different, fact sensitive tests for this determination depending on the context, such as for wage issues, workers compensation and unemployment. More recently, the Supreme Court addressed this issue in the context of whether an employer must make contributions for disability and unemployment in the case of East Bay Drywall, LLC vs. New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development.