New Jersey’s Wage and Hour Law (WHL) requires that employers pay the minimum wage established by law and an overtime premium for work in excess of 40 hours per week. New Jersey’s Wage Payment Law (WPL) requires that employers pay the full amount of wages due at least twice per month. Both laws broadly cover anyone “suffered or permitted to work by an employer.”1
The federal Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 (IRCA) makes it “unlawful . . . to hire . . . for employment in the United States an alien knowing the alien is an unauthorized alien . . . with respect to such employment.”2 Continuing the employment of an undocumented individual is also prohibited under the IRCA. The IRCA does not explicitly prohibit paying wages to undocumented individuals, however.
On March 19, 2026, the New Jersey Supreme Court, in a unanimous decision, held that employers are required to pay undocumented individuals whom the employer permits to work in accordance with the WPL and WHL, regardless of that individual’s undocumented status. The court also held that employers cannot shirk their obligations under the WHL and WPL through creative barter arrangements that do not involve the exchange of currency.
Background
In Lopez v. Marmic, a realty management company hired an undocumented individual (the plaintiff) to work as a superintendent for two buildings. The individual used an invalid Social Security Number (SSN) on a W-4 form when he applied for the position. The company initially...
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