Starting August 1st, 2024, New Jersey liquor license holders should be aware of new provisions affecting inactive licenses. An inactive license is one that hasn't been used for two consecutive license terms. To prevent expiration, license holders must either use their inactive license or transfer it. Municipalities may offer a one-year extension to this period.

License holders are encouraged to familiarize themselves with the options for activating or transferring their licenses to avoid forfeiture. Detailed information on these processes is available here, providing guidance on how to navigate the new law and maintain your license.

Upcoming changes to liquor license regulations in New Jersey may require holders of inactive licenses to take action. Beginning August 1^st, 2024, if a liquor license has not been used for two consecutive license terms, the holder may face the risk of the license expiring. However, there are options for transferring the license and preventing its expiration.

Transferring an Inactive Liquor License:

1. Activate at a New Location: License holders may reactivate their license by using it at a new premises within the same municipality, subject to local regulations and zoning requirements.
2. Transfer to a Contiguous Municipality: License holders can opt to transfer their license to a neighboring municipality for use in a designated redevelopment, improvement, or revitalization area. Both the sending and receiving municipalities must approve the transfer, which is subject to a transfer fee.
3. One-Year Extension: Municipalities have the authority to grant a one-year extension to the inactive period, giving license holders additional time to make arrangements for the use or transfer of their license.

Affected license holders should take timely action to either use or transfer their inactive license.

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New Jersey laundromats will soon receive materials to help ensure they are in compliance with State labor laws in 2024. Retail laundromats, like all New Jersey employers, are required to:

• Pay their employees at least the State minimum wage, which increased to $15.13 for most employees on January 1st, 2024
• Pay their employees an overtime rate of 1.5 times their regular pay rate when they work over 40 hours in a workweek
• Classify workers as employees appropriately
• Register in the new online system for working papers when hiring a minor under age 18
• Protect working minors by adhering to all State child labor laws
• Allow all their employees to earn and use sick leave to care for themselves or a loved one
• Display all required posters in the workplace where employees can see them

Laundromats will continue to be a Strategic Enforcement focus for the New Jersey Department of Labor in 2024.

Employers with outstanding liabilities for violations of wage, benefit, or tax laws are ineligible for public contracting opportunities when they are added to the Workplace Accountability in Labor List (The WALL). Any business whose name appears on The WALL is barred from public contracting with State, county, or local governments until they pay their liabilities in full and their business name is removed from The WALL.

Businesses scheduled for posting on The WALL receive an official notification and a final opportunity to settle their liabilities for worker wages, penalties, and fees before their name is posted. The WALL is updated monthly.

Any organization seeking guidance on maintaining a lawful workplace can email the New Jersey Department of Labor at wagehour@dol.nj.gov.

Enhance your recruiting and retention of highly-skilled employees with STEM Loan Redemption. The New Jersey Higher Education Student Assistance Authority (HESAA) will help qualifying employees payoff student loans by matching your company's contribution of $1,000 per year for up to four years. Eligible STEM professionals can receive a total of $8,000 towards their student loans.

Small businesses and nonprofits can now apply for working capital loans of up to $250,000 from the NJ Capital Access Fund.

Eligible businesses have been operating for at least 12 months with a revenue of $10 million or less and fewer than 50 employees.

Loans from the Fund offer flexible terms, including no minimum credit score or collateral requirements, terms from 36 to 60 months, low fees, and competitive fixed interest rates. Additional terms apply.

As of June 1st, 2023, employers hiring teenagers must register online to receive a unique 8-digit code and share that code with every minor they intend to hire. The potential hire can then visit the website to create an account and start their working papers application, entering the employer's unique code. Caregivers must review the details of the job and provide proof of the minor’s age. The NJ Department of Labor will notify the business once the application is approved.

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A recently passed law made a series of technical corrections, clarifications, and changes to the Corporation Business Tax Act (CBT) and Gross Income Tax Act (GIT). A series of Technical Bulletins from the Division of Taxation summarizes the new requirements and categorizes them by effective date.

A recorded webinar from New Jersey Clean Communities and the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection explains the inspection process the State uses to ensure compliance with the plastic bag and straw ban at New Jersey businesses. For questions please call 1-800-537-7397(1-800-JERSEY-7).

Businesses in New Jersey must comply with rules and regulations, but under a new law that takes effect on June 19th, 2023, state agencies can suspend enforcement of penalties on certain first-time violations at their discretion. Penalties may be suspended only if the first-time violation doesn’t impact public welfare, cause employees to lose income or benefits, or present the risk of environmental harm. The temporary waiver provided under this new law is available to businesses with 50 or fewer full-time employees and subject to several important exceptions, including:

1. Violations of a criminal nature
2. Violations that were intentional or knowing acts
3. Violations that are grounds for the suspension or revocation of the owner’s authority to operate the business
4. Violations that are grounds for the business to be disqualified from bidding for State contracts
5. Violations of any State employment or labor-related law
6. Violations that are grounds for the issuance of a stop-work order
7. Violations of federal law that require the State to impose a penalty

If none of these apply to the first-time violation, agencies have the discretion to give the cited business up to 60 days to “cure,” or resolve, the violation. Failure to cure or resolve the violation will result in the business being assessed all fines and penalties available under the law upon the expiration of the cure period.

If your business has been cited for a first-time violation and you believe that it is eligible for a cure, contact the agency that issued the violation. State agencies will report annually on how they are using this discretionary authority.

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