New Jersey Employment Lawyer Blog
Today, Governor Murphy signed into law an amendment to a New Jersey employment law that will protect most employees from being forced to listen to their employer’s political or religious opinions. The statute is expressly intended to ensure that workers are permitted to perform their jobs rather than having to listen to their employer’s political speech.
More specifically, the amended law prohibits employers from requiring employees to attend an employer-sponsored meeting, or requiring them to participate in communications with the employer, that express the employer’s opinion about religious or political matters. It defines “political matters” to include the decision to join or support any political party, or any political, civic, community, fraternal, or labor organization or association. It also includes electioneering, which means communications that advocate for a political candidate within 30 days of a primary election or within 60 days of a municipal, runoff, school board, special or general election, as well as other communication that clearly identify a public question or referendum, or that no reasonable person could interpret in any way other than to communicate support or opposition regarding a public question or referendum.
This new law includes numerous specific exceptions. For example, it does not: