Pub. 14 2015-2016 Issue 3

N E W J E R S E Y C O A L I T I O N O F A U T O M O T I V E R E T A I L E R S I S S U E N O . 4 , 2 0 1 5 12 new jersey auto retailer Service Department Compliance Issues On top of all this, the Service Department has to comply with specific wage and hour, consumer fraud, and sales and use tax issues. A review of all of the compliance requirements imposed on Service Depart- ments would take volumes, so this article will focus on the last three areas, wage and hour, consumer fraud, and sales and use taxes. Service Department Con- sumer Fraud Compliance The Consumer Fraud Act (CFA) has become the bane of the retail automotive industry’s existence, with an increasing numberof “lemon law”attorneys who specialize in bringing class action lawsuits against automo- tive dealerships, using the strict requirements of the CFA, along with its low burden of proof and harsh penalties, to nit-pick and second guess dealership acts and blow minor mistakes into mil- lions of dollars in damages and attorney’s fees. To avoid this kind of liability, Service Department manage- ment should be thoroughly familiar with the special rules governing automotive repair and service practices that have been adopted by the New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs. These regulations mandate that every service customer must receive an estimate, and A dealership’s Fixed Operations Department is subject to a greater regulatory compliance burden than any other department within the dealership. Probably the greatest compliance burden facing the Service Department is the array of environmental, pollution, hazardous material, and worker safety regulations that are particular to the Service Department. This includes such regulations as the Spill Prevention Control and Countermeasure rules, hazardous waste disposal rules, Hazmat shipping certification, Material Safety Data Sheet rules, and OSHA rules such as “lockout/tagout” and many others. BY PATRICK COX, ESQ.