Wrongful termination is the deprivation of an official post, let go, or fired by an employer based on illegal or forbidden reasons. It is referred to as “wrongful” because it is not supported by the state and federal laws of the country and the victim has the whole right to sue such an employer involved in the act. New Jersey, been as it is, one of the states that practice the employment-at-will culture in the United States which implies that any company may employ or sack an employee as they deem fit without any fear of legal consequences. Also, the culture state that an employee is free to leave a job without been persecuted by the law courts.
However, as New Jersey gives everyone the privilege to exercise and enjoy their civil rights, the state also frowns at whoever infringes on another person’s rights, and anyone found in such activities must be prepared to face justice. The same goes for wrongful termination of job appointment, the state has established some laws to govern the practices of employment and job dismissal. Do you feel cheated or curious to know if you are worthy or satisfied by the laws of New Jersey to sue your boss? Below are the grounds on which you can seek the law for justice on wrongful termination.
1. Discrimination.
The law of the country generally forbid any company or business organization to deprive anyone of their job base on race, religion, place of origin, sex, age(above 40), color, pregnancy, genetic or protected characteristics, but the law also gives grace to employers with a large number of employees. However, New Jersey law is more strict on the aspect of termination due to discrimination relatively compared to other states, the law is set to fight for those that are fired due to military services, health status(HIV/AIDs), blood trait, sexual orientation e.t.c. And the best part of it is that all employer must agree with this law no matter how small the number of their employees, even if it is only one.
The law goes forward to protect anyone who chooses to express their inconveniences on discriminatory and other termination grounds from the retaliation of the company concerned. This implies that any personnel of the company, not only the victims are free to make complaints to the rightful bodies or engage in the investigation of a discriminatory case without having the fear of losing their job or entitlement.
2. Breach of agreement.
Breach of contract is another ground on which an employer can be sued for wrongful termination. These contract which may be oral, written or implied states the business hours, entitlements, absences, length of employment, and cause for which an employee could be fired, all these are written in a handbook in the implied contract. The handbook contains everything the employee needs to know about the job including entitlements and conditions for dismissal. However, handing out a handbook to an employee means that the company is not employing the worker based on employment-at-will, and such a company can be sued on firing an employee for any cause that is different from those written in the handbook.
3. Wages deprivation.
Wages deprivation is punishable under the New Jersey termination laws. The law instructs every employer to pay their employees for all hours spent at work and breaks if given. The law supports that most workers of New Jersey is entitled to a minimum wage of $11.00 per hour as of January 1, 2020, and the employers must pay for overtime for anyone that works more than 40 hours per week. Employees are free to report the employer to the rightful bodies concerned in the state if the employer fails to comply with this payment format.
4. Leave entitlement.
The laws of the states and federal agree that an employee is entitled to a working leave to observe civic obligation and attends to personal issues. The leave is to last for a specified period and it will be an offense for an employer to deny or terminate an employee who is due for any of the leave given below.
Military and jury leave.
In the United States, it is lawful for an employee to seek leave from a company to serve under the military. it is the responsibility of an employer to grant the leave and restore the employee to their formal position within 90 days after the completion of the military service. The law also counts it illegal for a company to fire such employees during the first year of resuming back to work except for a good reason. The unpaid leave may last for five years or three months if the employee is to just attend the United States army school. The same goes for an employee who is selected to be a member of the jury in a law court.
Family and medical leave.
The Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) gives every employee of the country the right to embark on leave for personal medical purposes, care for a relative with chronic health issues, attend to a newborn baby, or to take care of a person who suffered an injury during the military services. The leave is to last 12 weeks but 26 weeks are allocated for those who seek to take care of their relative that got injured in the armed forces. As for New Jersey, the state is extending the right to medical leave to those that want to take care of their in-laws who are seriously ill, and the employers may likely have to pay them two-thirds of their weekly salaries for six weeks.
Domestic violence leave.
The 20 days of unpaid leave is given to an employee to care for a relative who was involved in domestic violence or assault.
5. Others.
An employee has the right to sue a company that fails to pay their working benefits in due time. The law also grants them the right to report any company that fails to provide a safe environment for their workers and also prevents an employer from firing personnel in retaliation for not involving in illegal activities.