Federal Court in New Jersey Refuses to Approve Confidentiality for Wage and Hour Settlement
Employers faced with wage and hour litigation often seek to condition settlement on the agreement of plaintiffs to keep the settlement and its terms confidential. Confidentiality is often an important condition of settlement because employers may hope to avoid “copycat” claims by other employees be concerned that disclosure of a wage and hour settlement may be viewed by the public as an “admission” of liability.
Recently, in an unpublished decision, Brumley v. Camin Cargo Control Inc., the U.S. District Court in New Jersey refused an employer’s unopposed request to seal the terms of a Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) lawsuit settlement. The court stated that there is a “presumption” in favor of public access to the settlement terms so that the public knows such cases are fairly resolved.
While it is still possible, depending upon the circumstances, that employers can confidentially resolve FLSA wage and hour lawsuits, it is becoming increasingly clear that courts, as in the Brumley case, are hesitant to do so. Moreover, when an FLSA lawsuit involves a sizable number of plaintiffs, the public’s interest in disclosure of the settlement terms seems more likely to be implicated. In this respect, we note that the settlement in Brumley involved 112 plaintiffs.
Photo credit: YanC
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On December 23, 2011, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit in .jpg)
On November 16, 2011, the New Jersey Appellate Division affirmed a finding that registered nurses who were paid on an hourly basis were exempt from the overtime requirements of the New Jersey Wage and Hour Law (“NJWHL”), even though the 
In 2009, New Jersey passed a law requiring the Department of Labor and Workforce Development (“DLWD”) to issue regulations providing that any employer who is required to maintain and report records regarding wages, benefits, and taxes pursuant to state law “shall conspicuously post notification” of the obligation to maintain and report those records.
There has been an important change in New Jersey law which may require employers to take immediate action: In recent amendments to its overtime regulations, New Jersey eliminated the exemption for sales employees paid on commission, which closely tracked an exemption in Section 7(i) of the Fair Labor Standards Act (sometimes known as the “inside sales” exemption). Because New Jersey law is now more protective than the FLSA, at present, it appears likely that employers cannot classify commissioned inside sales employees as exempt from overtime pay.
There is good news for New Jersey employers who utilize rounding. The New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development has reconsidered its .jpg)
On July 19, 2010, in 
As we 
Several new wage and hour bills made it through various state legislatures during the second half of the year. Below is a wrap up of some new developments (including regulatory updates) from July 1st through December 31st. Click 
