Expansions to New Jersey Family Leave Act Coming July 2026
As New Jersey employers are aware, under the NJ Family Leave Act (NJ FLA), eligible New Jersey employees are entitled to up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave in any 24-month period for the birth or adoption of a child, to care for a family member with a serious health condition, and to care for a child or family member during certain public health emergencies. While NJ FLA is unpaid, eligible New Jersey employees may be also eligible for up to 12 weeks of partial wage replacement from the State during certain types of NJ FLA through the New Jersey Paid Family Leave Insurance Program (NJ FLI). On January 17, 2026, former Governor Murphy enacted amendments to NJ FLA and NJ FLI expanding the number of employers and employees covered by the NJ FLA and clarifying the scope of job protection afforded to employees receiving benefits through NJ FLI. These changes go into effect on July 17, 2026.
Employer Coverage. Currently, employers are required to provide NJ FLA if they employ at least 30 employees for each working day during at least 20 calendar workweeks in current or preceding calendar year. Effective July 17, 2026, the employee threshold drops to 15 employees. As of July 17, 2027, the employee threshold will be 10 employees. And effective July 17, 2028, an employer will be required to provide NJ FLA if it employs 5 or more employees. Notably, to be covered by the NJ FLA, the employer must have the requisite number of employees worldwide, not only in New Jersey. So, an employer with 15 employees in the US, but only 1 employee in New Jersey, will be covered by the NJ FLA.
Employee Coverage. Currently, a New Jersey employee is only eligible for NJ FLA if they have been employed by their employer for at least 12 months and worked for not less than 1000 hours during the immediately preceding 12-month period. Effective July 17, 2026, a New Jersey employee only needs to work for an employer for at least 3 months and for not less than 250 hours during the immediately preceding 12-month period to be eligible for NJ FLA.
Job Protection. As noted above, New Jersey employees may qualify for up to 12 weeks of partial wage replacement from the State through NJ FLI when they are on certain forms of family leave. Similarly, an employee who is on leave due to the employee’s own physical or mental health condition may qualify for up to 26 weeks of partial wage replacement from the State under the NJ Temporary Disability Insurance Program (NJ TDI). NJ FLI and NJ TDI were designed as wage replacement programs, not independent leave entitlements. As such, employees receiving NJ FLI or NJ TDI benefits are not entitled to be restored to their previous position when their wage replacement benefits expire. However, under the new amendments, employees receiving NJ FLI or NJ TDI benefits are now entitled to be restored by their employer to the position held by the employee when their leave commenced or to an equivalent position of like seniority, status, employment benefits, pay, and other terms and conditions of employment. This change creates some open questions which will hopefully be addressed by additional guidance before the effective date of the amendments.
Use of Paid Sick Time. The amendments also clarify the relationship between NJ Paid Sick Leave, NJ FLI, and NJ TDI. If an employee on a leave is eligible for both NJ Paid Sick Leave and wage replacement benefits under NJ FLI or NJ TDI, the employee may elect to use either available NJ Paid Sick Leave or applicable wage replacement benefits and may choose the order in which different types of leave and benefits are used. However, an employee cannot receive more than one kind of paid leave or wage replacement at a time during an unpaid leave.
Employers with New Jersey employees should review and revise their leave policies for compliance with the new law in advance of the July 17, 2026 effective date. Employers with questions about these amendments or that need assistance revising their policies should contact Kristina Grimshaw at kgrimshaw@fglawllc.com or any other attorney at the Firm.
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