I have a class with an array of objects and getting a null pointer exception.

How do I fix the nullpointerexception on this array of objects?

public class EmployeeList { private final int EMPLOYEES_MAX = 50; private int numEmployees; private Employee[] employees; public void EmployeeList() { employees = new Employee[ EMPLOYEES_MAX ]; numEmployees = 0; } `enter code here`public boolean addEmployee( int empType, String first, String last, char gen, int empNum, boolean full, double amount ) { if( empType == 1 ) { employees[ numEmployees ] = new HourlyEmployee( first, last, gen, empNum, full, amount ); } else if( empType == 2 ) { employees[ numEmployees ] = new SalaryEmployee ( first, last, gen, empNum, full, amount ); } else { employees[ numEmployees ] = new CommissionEmployee( first, last, gen, empNum, full, amount ); } if( numEmployees <= EMPLOYEES_MAX ) { numEmployees++; } else { System.out.print( "Cannot add emplyee, list is full" ); return false; } return true; 

When addEmployee is called I am getting this error.

Exception in thread "main" java.lang.NullPointerException at EmployeeList.addEmployee(EmployeeList.java:42) at EmployeeDriver.main(EmployeeDriver.java:124)

Here is the Driver class

import java.util.Scanner; public class EmployeeDriver { public static void main(String args[]) { // variables to hold user input values int mainInput = -1; //Input for main menu int empType = -1; //Input for employee type int subInput1 = -1; //Input for submenu int subInput2 = -1; //Input for sub-submenu int empNum; //Input for employee number int index; //Index of a specific Employee object in the list Scanner in = new Scanner(System.in); EmployeeList empMgr = new EmployeeList(); //The EmployeList object // options for the main menu String mainMenuOptions [] = { "Quit", "Add Employee", "Process Employees by Type Submenu", "Remove Employee", "Sort Employees", "Calculate Weekly Payout", "Calculate Bonus", "Annual Raises", "Reset Week"}; // options for the 'process employee by type' menu String empTypeMenuOptions [] = { "Back", "Hourly Employees", "Salary Employees", "Commission Employees"}; // create the main menu and employee Menu objects Menu mainMenu = new Menu (mainMenuOptions); Menu empTypeMenu = new Menu (empTypeMenuOptions); //Main control loop, keep coming back to the //Main menu after each selection is finished do { // Display all current employees in the list empMgr.listAll(); //Run the main menu to display options, read, validate and return the user's choice System.out.println("Main Menu"); mainInput = mainMenu.runMenu(); //Perform the Main Menu action requested by the user switch(mainInput) { //Add Employee main menu option case 1: // declare temporary variables for user input of employee values String fName, lname; char gender, f; boolean ft = true; double amount; // get the employee type do { System.out.println(" 1. Hourly"); System.out.println("2. Salary"); System.out.println("3. Commission"); System.out.print ("Enter Choice: "); empType = in.nextInt(); if (empType < 1 || empType > 3) { System.out.println ("Invalid Choice. Try Again!"); } }while (empType < 1 || empType > 3); System.out.print("Enter Last Name: "); lname = in.next(); System.out.print("Enter First Name: "); fName = in.next(); System.out.print("Enter Gender: "); gender = in.next().charAt(0); // ask for employee number // search employee list for existing employee with that number // if number already exists, display an error message int en_index = -1; do { System.out.print("Enter Employee Number: "); empNum = in.nextInt(); // if empNum in range then check employee list to determine if // employee number already exists if (empNum >= 1 && empNum <= 99999) { en_index = empMgr.getIndex(empNum); if (en_index != -1) System.out.println ("Employee number already used - Choose a new number"); } else System.out.println ("Employee number must be between 1 and 99999 inclusive"); }while (en_index != -1 || (empNum < 1 || empNum > 99999)); // determine if employee is a full time employee System.out.print("Full Time? (y/n): "); f = in.next().charAt(0); if(f == 'n' || f == 'N') { ft = false; } System.out.println("1. Add Hours"); System.out.println("0. Back"); System.out.print(" Enter Choice: "); subInput2 = in.nextInt(); if(subInput2 < 0 || subInput2 > 1) { System.out.println("Invalid Choice! Choose Again."); } }while(subInput2 < 0 || subInput2 > 1); if( subInput2 == 1) { double hours = 0.0; System.out.println("Employee Number: "); empNum = in.nextInt(); index = empMgr.getIndex(empNum); if(index != -1) { System.out.print("Enter Hours: "); hours = in.nextDouble(); empMgr.increaseHours(index, hours); } else { System.out.println("Employee not found!"); } } }while(subInput2!= 0); break; case 2: // salary employee // display salaried employees do { System.out.println(); empMgr.listSalary(); System.out.println("0. Back"); System.out.print(" Enter Choice: "); subInput2 = in.nextInt(); if(subInput2 != 0) { System.out.println("Invalid Choice! Choose Again."); } }while(subInput2 != 0); break; case 3: // commission employee // display commission employees and allow sales to be updated do { // Prompt the user for the specific information required for the employee type if(empType == 1) { System.out.print("Enter wage: "); } else if(empType == 2) { System.out.print("Enter salary: "); } else { System.out.print("Enter rate: "); } amount = in.nextDouble(); // add the employee to the list of employees if (empMgr.addEmployee(empType, fName, lname , gender, empNum, ft, amount)) { System.out.println ("Employee Added to List");} else System.out.println ("Employee NOT added to List"); break; //Process Employee by Type main menu option case 2: do { //Call emptypeMenu to Display 'process employee by type' menu options and reads, //validates and returns the user's choice empType = empTypeMenu.runMenu(); switch(empType) { case 1: // hourly employee // display hourly employees and allow hours to be updated do { do { System.out.println(); empMgr.listHourly(); do { System.out.println(); empMgr.listCommission(); System.out.println("1. Add Sales"); System.out.println("0. Back"); System.out.print(" Enter Choice: "); subInput2 = in.nextInt(); if(subInput2 < 0 || subInput2 > 1) { System.out.println("Invalid Choice! Choose Again."); } }while(subInput2 < 0 || subInput2 > 1); if( subInput2 == 1) { double sales = 0.0; System.out.println("Employee Number: "); empNum = in.nextInt(); index = empMgr.getIndex(empNum); if(index != -1) { System.out.print("Enter Sales: "); sales = in.nextDouble(); empMgr.increaseSales(index, sales); } else { System.out.println("Employee not found!"); } } }while(subInput2 != 0); break; } }while(empType != 0); break; //Remove Employee main menu option case 3: System.out.print("Enter Employee Number to Remove: "); empNum = in.nextInt(); // if empNum exists in the list - remove it index = empMgr.getIndex(empNum); if(index != -1) empMgr.removeEmployee(index); else System.out.println ("Employee not found in the list"); break; //Sort Employees main menu option case 4: // determine the sort method prefered by the user do { System.out.println(" 1. Sort by Employee Number"); System.out.println("2. Sort by Name"); System.out.print("Enter Choice: "); subInput1 = in.nextInt(); if(subInput1 < 1 || subInput1 > 2) { System.out.println("Invalid Input! Choose again."); } }while(subInput1 < 1 || subInput1 > 2); // if the user requests to sort by employee number // call sortByEmpNumber // else // call sortbyLastName if(subInput1 == 1) { empMgr.sortByEmpNumber(); } else { empMgr.sortByLastName(); } break; //Calculate Total Weekly Payout main menu option case 5: System.out.println(); System.out.printf("Total weekly payout is $%.2f ", empMgr.calculatePayout()); break; //Calculate Total Bonus paid to all employees main menu option case 6: double bonus = empMgr.holidayBonuses(); System.out.printf("Total holiday bonus payout is $%,.2f ", bonus); break; //Apply Annual Raises for all employees main menu option case 7: empMgr.annualRaises(); System.out.println("Annual Raises applied."); break; //Reset the weeks sales and hours-worked values back to zero main menu option case 8: empMgr.resetAllWeeks(); System.out.println("Weekly values reset."); break; //Exit (Quit) main menu option case 0: System.out.println(" Thank you for using the Employee List! "); } }while(mainInput != 0); } }