NJ Supreme Court Defines Scope of Good Faith Defense to State Wage and Hour Laws for the First Time
The New Jersey Supreme Court ruled in January to sharply limit the scope of the good faith exception to the state wage and hour law, which allows an employer to rely on the position of the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development as an absolute defense in a private lawsuit. In Elmer Branch v. Cream-O-Land Dairy,1 the Court held that under the plain language of the of act, the provision of New Jersey’s wage and hour law that allows an employer to rely in its de