All employers of employees in New Jersey must issue Form BC-10 - "Instructions for Claiming Unemployment Benefits" - to all New Jersey employees who are separated from employment. On July 1, 2011, a new law was enacted (L. 2011, c. 87), requiring employers to include on Form BC-10 the following new information: (1) the date the employee became unemployed, and, to the extent possible if the unemployment is temporary, the date upon which the employee is expected to be recalled to work; and (2) notification that the employee may lose some or all of the benefits to which the employee is entitled if the employee fails to file a claim in a timely manner.

The new law clearly states that the new law is not intended to require an employer to rehire an unemployed employee previously employed by the employer.

Form BC-10 must be given to any employee who becomes unemployed for any reason, whether the unemployment is permanent or temporary. In the past, the NJ Department of Labor & Workforce Development did not require employers to give Form BC-10 to employees who were laid off for fewer than seven days. The new law effectively overrules this exception, such that now every employee who is laid off or terminates employment must be given the revised Form BC-10.

The New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development issued a revised version of Form BC-10 in late July. The revised form can be accessed by clicking here.

If you have any questions about this new law, please contact Christine Michelle Duffy, Esq., in the Partnership's Parsippany, NJ office, at (973) 240-6955 x303.