Employers Must Provide Paid Leave to New Jersey Employees
New Jersey Family Leave Insurance Law (Paid Leave Act)
Effective July 1, 2009, New Jersey employers will be required to provide covered employees with up to 6 weeks of paid family leave or 42 days of intermittent leave in any 12 month period to care for sick family members (child, spouse, domestic partner, civil union partner, or parent) or to care for a newborn or newly adopted child (within the first year after birth or adoption). Covered employees taking paid leave will receive two-thirds of the employee's weekly pay, up to a maximum of $524 per week ($74.85 per day intermittently). Employers can substitute accrued paid leave (up to 2 weeks) and may also require that the 6 week paid leave period run concurrently with federal or state mandated unpaid family or disability leave period. The Act is funded by employee contributions and applies to all employers covered under New Jersey's Unemployment Compensation Law. Funding and tax requirements are similar to those imposed under the New Jersey Temporary Disability Insurance Benefit Law. The Act itself does not entitle employees to reinstatement following leave but employers subject to the New Jersey Family Leave Act or the federal Family and Medical Leave Act must continue to reinstate employees pursuant to those statutes. Employers are subject to certain notice and notification requirements and employees are required to provide employers with adequate notice regarding requests for paid leave.
