Remember Johnny Carson’s soothsaying alter-ego Carnac the Magnificent? No? Fine. Instead, settle in for some prognostication from me, the Fearless Forecaster. Once again I will gaze (not Adam Gase who, by the way, I predict will be back next year as the Jets head coach) into my crystal ball and predict what employment laws companies need to be most concerned about in 2020.
Just as the Fearless Forecaster predicted last year, sexual harassment will continue to haunt employers in 2020. My prescient comments a few years ago also will hold true in 2020, that as long as men retain positions of power, and men and women work together in the workplace, there will be work for employment lawyers. New Jersey’s new law, S-477, which just became effective on Dec. 1, 2019, and which permits victims of sexual assault and abuse a new two-year window to bring claims that were previously time-barred, will also provide some additional work for employment lawyers in 2020. New York recently passed a similar law, the Child Victims Act, extending the time for those type of claims.
Employers have other claims to worry about as we enter 2020. New Jersey adopted one of the strongest wage theft laws in the country in 2019. The Wage Theft Act (WTA) significantly enhances penalties should employers not pay workers what they are owed. The WTA provides in appropriate cases for treble damages and there is a six year statute of limitations, exposing employers to much larger claims. It also makes it far more likely that a successor entity will have liability for the sins of the predecessor, so corporate transactional lawyers need to be cognizant of this change when handling sales of businesses.
There also is personal liability under the WTA. The Fearless Forecaster predicts a huge uptick in wage and hour litigation over the next few years as a result. This will also include wage and hour class actions. Finally, just in case the above predictions are not enough to cause lost sleep, employers need to worry about another type of litigation that could prove extremely costly. In 2018 New Jersey adopted the Diane B. Allen Equal Pay Act, requiring pay equality across all protected categories, not just gender. Therefore, if a company pays people of color, for example, less on average than white employees, beware.
Employers can defend these claims if the pay differential is based on a seniority, a merit system or other bona fide factors such as education, experience and training. However, this law lends itself to class-action treatment. A six-year statute of limitations also ups the ante.
The Fearless Forecaster is more confident than ever before concerning his predictions. Let’s see this time next year whether he had 20/20 vision in 2020.