NJ Employment Law Changes (2021): Medical and recreational marijuana issues, and misclassification of employees as independent contractors

Jennifer Mora | Seyfarth Shaw

Jennifer Mora is a Senior Counsel at the Century City office of Seyfarth Shaw and a key member of the firm’s Workplace Compliance Solutions Group. Her practice is focused on the delivery of proactive, pragmatic solutions that help clients avoid litigation and develop internal compliance initiatives. Jennifer also is a nationally recognized expert on employment-purposed background checks, and regularly advises employers and consumer reporting agencies on the intersection of federal and state background check laws, including the Fair Credit Reporting and state law equivalents, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, state and local ban the box laws and state fair employment laws. She also regularly advises clients on compliance with medical and recreational marijuana laws as well as federal and state drug-free workplace and drug-testing issues, including compliance with Department of Transportation-mandated programs.

Sean Kirby | Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton LLPs

Sean Kirby is a special counsel in Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton LLPs the Labor and Employment Practice Group in the firm’s New York office. Sean’s practice encompasses the defense of single plaintiff and class action discrimination, wrongful discharge, and wage/hour claims, in addition to employment contract, restrictive covenant, whistleblower, sexual harassment, and related claims. He regularly represents clients in labor and employment litigations in federal and state courts, in arbitrations before the American Arbitration Association and the Financial Industry Regulation Authority, and in proceedings before various administrative agencies, including the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the U.S. Department of Labor and state agencies throughout the United States.

Sean also counsels domestic and international clients on day-to-day workplace employment issues such as the preparation, administration, and enforcement of personnel policies, hiring procedures, reductions-in-force, severance and termination strategies, employee discipline, disability, leaves of absence, wage/hour law, compliance with anti-discrimination laws, the labor election process, and the extraterritorial application of U.S. laws. Sean regularly drafts and negotiates employment, separation, non-compete, and non-solicitation agreements. He also conducts discrimination and harassment prevention trainings, as well as investigations into harassment allegations, whistleblower complaints, and other employment matters. Finally, Sean defends disability access discrimination claims under the Americans with Disabilities Act and New York State and City accessibility standards. He has experience in matters ranging from architectural barrier access cases to cutting edge disability access claims involving websites, and other new media. His experience includes representing several national restaurant chains, retail establishments, and other businesses.

Session I- New Jersey Medical and Recreational Marijuana Laws
I. Medical and recreational marijuana at the state level | 1:00pm – 1:20pm
II. Drug testing considerations | 1:20pm – 1:40
III. Issues for regulated employers | 1:40pm – 2:00pm

Break | 2:00pm – 2:10pm

Session II – Efforts to eliminate the misclassification of employees as independent contractors
IV. Overview of New Jersey independent contractor laws | 2:10pm – 2:20pm
V. An analysis of the four new laws recently enacted in New Jersey aimed at eliminating misclassification of employees as independent contractors | 2:20pm – 2:35pm
VI. An analysis of the effect such new laws will have on companies who utilize independent contractors as part of their workforce | 2:35pm – 2:50pm