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New Jersey has amended the New Jersey Family Leave Act (NJFLA). The amendments go into effect on July 17, 2026. Currently, the NJFLA allows eligible employees to take up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave within a 24-month period for certain qualifying reasons.
The NJFLA amendments broaden employee eligibility as follows:
- Increasing employer coverage by decreasing the number of employees required for an employer to be covered from 30 to 15
- Decreasing the length of time an employee must be employed to at least 3 months and a minimum of 250 hours worked in the preceding 12 months
Employee count is based upon all employees, including those outside of New Jersey. Projections estimate that NJFLA coverage will be extended to approximately 400,000 additional employees.
The amendments also impose requirements on employers when an employee receives temporary disability insurance (TDI) or family leave insurance (FLI) benefits. Specifically, the amendments require employers to return employees who received TDI or FLI benefits for their own medical condition to the same position or an equivalent position based on stated criteria. Clarification from the State is expected as to whether the amendments create additional leave rights.
Further, the amendments state that when an employee qualifies for both sick leave under New Jersey’s Earned Sick Leave Law, and TDI or FLI benefits, the employee can pick the order they take these benefits, but may not receive more than one form of paid leave at the same time.
We will continue to monitor developments addressing the application of these changes.
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