New Jersey Legislature Expands Job-Protected Family Leave to Smaller Employers

By Jill Kahn Marshall and Anna Beckelman

On Monday, January 12, the New Jersey legislature gave final passage to a bill that would significantly expand eligibility for family leave in the state.  The bill now awaits signature from outgoing Governor Phil Murphy.

Under current New Jersey law, employers with 30 or more employees are required to provide employees with up to 12 weeks of job-protected family leave to take care of a newborn child or an ill family member, during which an employee can earn up to 85 percent of their weekly pay, capped at $1,119 per week.  Additionally, the new legislation mandates job protection during 12 weeks of family leave for employers with 15 or more employees.  This ensures that these employees can take 12 weeks to bond with a newborn child or care for an ill family member, and return to the same job afterward.

The bill also significantly reduces the amount of time for which an individual must be employed in order to be eligible for paid family leave.  The current version of the bill cuts the requirement from 12 months to 3 months, while also cutting the number of “base hours” required from 1,000 to 250.  Furthermore, the bill continues to protect workers from discrimination or retaliation for taking family leave, while also clarifying that workers are “entitled to be restored […] to the position held […] when leave commenced or to an equivalent position of like seniority, status, employment benefits, pay, and other terms and conditions of employment.”

Opponents of the bill have asserted that expanding family leave would be burdensome for smaller businesses in New Jersey, while supporters have said that employees of smaller businesses should have equal access to family leave as their counterparts at larger employers.

In the event Governor Murphy signs the bill into law, covered New Jersey employers must update their family leave policies accordingly.

This article is intended as a general discussion of these issues only and is not to be considered legal advice or relied upon. For more information, please contact RPJ Partner Jill Kahn Marshall, who counsels individuals and corporations in the areas of employment law, litigation and dispute resolution, and healthcare. Ms. Marshall is admitted to practice law in New York and Massachusetts, as well as the District Courts for Massachusetts and the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York.