Green Savits Employment Law Blog

Florham Park, N.J.— A senior executive at an apparel company lost his job in March after he insisted that the business alert employees of a worker diagnosed with COVID-19. 

Marc Loeb, former Chief Operating Officer at apparel manufacturer Vantage Custom Classics Inc, wanted to notify factory workers who had contact with the infected employee so they could take the necessary precautions. Instead, Vantage CEO Ira Neaman told him  “today is your last day.”

“It was part of Loeb’s job to take care of the workers...

The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) is a U.S. labor law that enables eligible workers to take up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave for specific medical and family reasons, without jeopardizing their employment. Unemployment benefits are intended to help individuals who have lost their jobs.

If you are taking an unpaid leave of absence under FMLA, even though you are not working, you are still employed, and therefore ineligible for unemployment benefits.

The Family and Medical Leave Act allows employees to take up to 12 weeks off work for medical reasons or to care for a family...

The gradual reopening of society during the COVID-19 pandemic presents certain challenges for employers and employees to navigate. One of these involves the decision to bring employees back into the office rather than allow them to continue working remotely. Employers must be extremely diligent in following all state mandated health guidelines when bringing employees back to the office. Employees need to understand that they have rights in the event that they are terminated or retaliated against in any way for filing a whistleblower complaint about the safety of their work environment during the COVID-19 pandemic.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, many doctors and nurses throughout New Jersey have been forced to perform their duties in unsafe working environments. Not only do these front-line workers face increased risk for exposure to the novel coronavirus, they also fear losing their jobs for voicing concerns over equipment shortages and other safety issues.

In a recent New York Times article, Theresa Brown, a nurse, writer, and clinical faculty member at the University of Pittsburgh School of Nursing, describes the challenges of publicly advocating for safer working conditions when many hospitals have instituted gag orders. In this...