Daniel Levy, an Associate in the Health Care and Life Sciences and Labor and Employment practices in the Newark office, and Alkida Kacani, an Associate in the Labor and Employment practice, in the Newark office, cowrote an article titled “Nurses Held Exempt Under N.J. Wage and Hour Law.”
On Nov. 16, 2011, the Appellate Division held that registered nurses are exempt from overtime compensation under the New Jersey Wage and Hour Law (NJWHL), N.J.S.A. 34:11-56a1 to 56a30, even if paid on an hourly basis, because they fall within the “professional” exemption. Anderson v. Phoenix Health Care, Inc., A-2607-10T2 (N.J. App. Div. Nov. 16, 2011). The court further held that, even if registered nurses were not exempt, a claim for overtime compensation may nevertheless fail under the NJWHL’s good-faith exception, N.J.S.A. 34:11-56a25.2, if the employer establishes that it conformed to the Division of Wage and Hour Compliance’s “longstanding interpretation that registered nurses are not entitled to overtime so long as they are compensated in excess of the weekly minimum” salary required for exemption.
Reprinted with permission from the April 2, 2012 edition of New Jersey Law Journal. © 2012 ALM Media Properties, LLC.