Understanding Your Rights As An Employee - Two Major Laws

The New Jersey Law Against Discrimination (LAD) prohibits employers from discriminating in any job-related action, including recruitment, interviewing, hiring, promotions, discharge, compensation and the terms, conditions and privileges of employment on the basis of any of the law's specified protected categories. These protected categories are: race, creed, color, national origin, nationality, ancestry, age, sex (including pregnancy and sexual harassment), marital status, domestic partnership or civil union status, affectional or sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, atypical hereditary cellular or blood trait, genetic information liability for military service, or mental or physical disability, including AIDS and HIV related illnesses.

The LAD also prohibits harassment, hostile work environment, wrongful termination, and retaliation.

Public information about the LAD can be found at https://www.nj.gov/oag/dcr/employ.html

CEPA is New Jersey's whistleblower law. In general, it broadly protects employees from retaliation for objecting to, complaining about or refusing to participate in activity the employee reasonably believes is against the law or somehow damaging to the public.

Public information about CEPA can be found at https://nj.gov/labor/forms_pdfs/lwdhome/CEPA270.1.pdf