On September 9, 2013, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie issued an absolute veto to a bill (A1578) that would have had a serious impact on trucking industry employers in New Jersey. As we previously discussed in the September 2012 issue of the New Jersey eAuthority, this bill sought to impose severe criminal and financial penalties on drayage trucking or parcel delivery industry employers that misclassified their trucking services employees as independent contractors. It also sought to create a presumption of employer-employee relationship (rather than independent contractor relationship) in that industry, which could be overcome only if the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development was satisfied the employer met a demanding multi-part test. In his veto, Governor Christie noted that the bill would have made New Jersey unfriendly to the trucking industry, and caused overseas shippers to deliver to ports in other states, creating a chilling effect on New Jersey business at a time when New Jersey’s economic climate must continue to improve.
