Q. Do the requirements of certain employment laws differ foremerging and small businesses?

A. Yes. Consider, for example, a situation where anemployee asks to take time off from work to care for a close familymember. Under the laws of the United States, employers are requiredby the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (FMLA) to provideemployees with 12 weeks of unpaid leave to tend to family medicalissues before giving away their jobs. New Jersey has a similar law,the New Jersey Family Leave Act (NJFLA) that works in conjunctionwith the FMLA. However, employers with fewer than 50 employees aregenerally exempt from these laws.

Emerging and small businesses are similarly exempt from otherFederal laws as well. For example, the Consolidated Omnibus BudgetReconciliation Act (COBRA) gives retirees and former employees, andtheir spouses and dependent children, the right to temporarycontinuation of health insurance at group rates. However, employerswith fewer than 20 employees are generally exempt from therequirements of COBRA, although a New Jersey "mini-COBRA" lawapplies to fill much of the void in such situations. Also, theWorker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN) requiresemployers to provide notice to employees of mass layoffs or plantclosings. However, WARN only applies generally to employers withmore than 100 workers.