• In Martinez v. T. Slack Environmental Services, Inc., the Superior Court of New Jersey Appellate Division ruled that workers can bring a representative action under the state’s Wage and Hour Law, Prevailing Wage Act, and Earned Sick Leave Law without satisfying standards for a class action.
• The court found a two-year statute of limitations should apply to the employees’ overtime claims and earned sick leave claims, but a six-year statute of limitations should apply to their prevailing wage claims.
• The case was remanded to a lower court for further proceedings.

Background on the Case

T. Slack Environmental Services, Inc., is an environmental contracting and remediation business in New Jersey. In February 2020, Juan Martinez sued T. Slack for violations of the New Jersey Prevailing Wage Act (NJPWA), the New Jersey Wage and Hour Law (NJWHL), and the New Jersey Earned Sick Leave Law (NJESLL), both individually and on behalf of other hourly employees.

On public projects, Martinez performed work classified as Class B (meaning heavy physical labor) and Class C (meaning light-duty work) and should have been paid the prevailing wage rate under the NJPWA. However, he was paid at a lower hourly rate when working on private projects. During weeks in which Martinez performed both public and private work, he was paid at the lower, private rate, rather than a blended rate reflecting both types of work. When he performed work under different titles, such as laborer and ironworker,...

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