On July 17, 2026, employees who work in New Jersey will have significantly greater rights to take family or medical leave and be certain that their job will be waiting for them at the end of that leave, thanks to amendments to the state’s Family Leave Act (“NJFLA”) and Temporary Disability Benefits (“TDI”) and Family Leave Insurance Law (“FLI”). This is great news for employees and will potentially create complicated challenges for employers with workers in New Jersey.
Changes to NJFLA rights:
The NJFLA provides employees with up to 12 weeks of continuous or intermittent job-protected leave during a 24-month period to care for/bond with a child in connection with a birth, adoption or foster care placement; to care for a family member, or someone who is the equivalent of family, who has a serious health condition; and to care for family members who has or has been exposed to a communicable diseases. Effective July 17, the scope of employers covered by the state’s Family Leave Act (“NJFLA”) will include in-state employers that employ at least 15 employees and out of state employers with at least 15 employees located anywhere as long as at least one employee works in New Jersey. (The prior threshold was 30 employees). This change will now sweep in many more smaller employers.
Additionally, eligibility for such leave will now kick in much earlier and be accessible to many more new hires. Once the new law goes int effect, any employee who works in New Jersey for a covered employer for 3 months and 250 hours in the 12 months before they need NJFLA leave will now qualify for NJFLA leave. Previously, employees had to work for at least 12 months and work at least 1000 hours before they could use such leave. This expanded access could potentially increase the number of employees at a work site that are on leave at any one time.
New Rights for Employees Receiving Temporary Disability Benefits or Family Leave Insurance Benefits
The new law also significantly amends the TDI and FLI laws to provide job protection for the first time for workers who receive such benefits. Although employees working in New Jersey have long had access to partial wage replacement benefits during a family or medical leave through the state-funded Temporary Disability and Family Leave Insurance programs, the law did not previously provide them with job protection for taking that time off and receiving those benefits.
Before July 17, 2026:
That vulnerability changes July 17:
Once effective, all employees will now be guaranteed job restoration if they take a family or medical leave and receive temporary disability benefits (“TDB”) or family insurance (“FLI”) benefits. Employees are eligible for TDI and FLI benefits once they work 20 weeks in the year before taking the leave. That twenty weeks can be worked for any employer. Accordingly even a new hire could qualify if their prior employment alone or their prior employment and their new employment equals at least 20 weeks of employment at the time they take their leave. The new job protection could also lead to more litigation as employees will now have a cause of action against employers who refuse to reinstate them or retaliate or discriminate against them for taking TDI or FLI benefits. The remedies are robust: reinstatement, compensation for lost wages and benefits, payment of reasonable costs and attorney’s fees, civil fine and an injunction.
Since eligibility for TDI or FLI benefits can apply even before an employee is eligible for NJFLA or FMLA, employees working for very short times for a new employer who need an extended family or medical leave could now qualify for such benefits and be guaranteed job restoration at the end of that leave. In the case of temporary disability benefits, this can mean job restoration after 26 weeks of leave/benefits in a 12-month period, which could create challenging coverage situations for some employers. In the case of FLI, employees are entitled to job restoration after 12 weeks of leave/benefits.
Moreover, for some employees this could mean job restoration after 38 weeks of leave, and an employer cannot assert an undue burden defense. For example, if a pregnant employee utilizes TDI for her own medical condition and then uses FLI when her baby is born, that employee could be eligible for up to 38 weeks of job protected leave in a 12-month period. This is much more leave than the 12 weeks of leave provided under the NJFLA every 24 months and the 12 weeks of leave provided annually under the FMLA. Thus, an employee could exhaust their NJFLA and or FMLA leave in a calendar year but still receive TDI or FLI benefits and have job-protected leave in that year.
The amended law also states that employees have the choice to use New Jersey Earned Sick Leave or receive TDI or FLI benefits to cover pay during their absence but that they cannot receive more than one kind of paid leave simultaneously during any period of time.
Next steps for employers:
The FLI law applies to all employers working in New Jersey, and the TDI law applies to all private employers with employees working in New Jersey. Accordingly, affected employers will need to come up with plans to address operational issues that will arise due to extended employee absences. Additionally, handbooks/policies should be modified to address job restoration rights.
Employers either based in New Jersey with at least 15 employees or out of state employers with at least 15 employees located anywhere and at least one employee in New Jersey who were not previously covered by the NJFLA should inform managers and immediately put policies in place to address such leave and advise employees of their rights to take such leave.
Employers who were already covered by the NJFLA should inform managers and amend existing policies to change the eligibility period for employees for such leave from 12 months and 1000 hours of work to 3 months and 250 hours of work.
If you have any questions or need assistance related to these changes reach out to Fried-Grodin Employment Law at (973) 718-2714.
