A Primer on NJ Employee Handbooks

New Jersey has, for a long time, produced cutting edge legal authority regarding the legal consequences created by employee handbooks and the presence or absence of particular language. That trend continues through this day, with appellate authority being issued as recently as 2016 concerning the issue of whether an employer can enforce an arbitration clause contained within an employee handbook.

This course examines the reasons for having employee handbooks, and how handbooks can become contractually binding (and what employers can do to prevent that). We pay special attention to commonly included useful clauses and potentially problematic clauses.

Learning Objectives:

I.      Examine the reasons for having employee handbooks

II.     Understand how handbooks can become contractually binding (and what employers can do to prevent that)

III.    Review commonly included useful handbook clauses and potentially problematic clauses (and examine some, in detail, that have been the subject of recent published judicial opinions)