Legislative lowdown: New Jersey extends job-protected leave to additional workers

An estimated 400,000 additional New Jersey workers will be eligible to take job-protected family leave under amendments to state law that took effect on July 17.

The amendments apply to a set of laws guaranteeing New Jersey workers job-protected family leave, as well as wage replacement under certain circumstances.

Employees at businesses with 15 or more workers are now eligible for job protections under the New Jersey Family Leave Act (NJFLA), which grants up to 12 weeks of leave to bond with a child or take care of a family member with a serious medical condition, among other reasons. Previously, the law applied to employers with 30 or more workers.

Additionally, workers are eligible to take job-protected leave sooner, after three months with their employer, and 250 hours of working, down from 12 months, and 1,000 hours.

The recently enacted amendments also provide job protection to workers who don’t qualify for the NJFLA, but are receiving compensation through the state’s Temporary Disability Insurance or Family Leave Insurance programs. Unlike the NJFLA, workers can take advantage of these programs regardless of the size of their employer, or the length of time they’ve been working; they must simply meet a minimum salary requirement.

These expanded protections “will particularly benefit employees of small businesses, newer employees, many part-time workers, and individuals receiving benefits related to domestic or sexual violence,” according to a statement from New Jersey’s Department of Labor and Workforce Development.

What this means for NJ employers. Smaller employers may be particularly impacted by these changes, Matt Collins, a co-chair of the labor and employment practice at law firm Brach Eichler, said. That’s because they may have to grant job protection to employees receiving benefits from the state’s Temporary Disability Insurance or Family Leave Insurance programs, even if those workers haven’t been with their jobs for the requisite amount of time under the NFLA (now three months).

Because of the ways the laws interact, “if you work for somebody who’s got 10 employees, five employees, two employees, you might not be eligible still, even after July 17, for New Jersey Family Leave Act benefits. But if you’re eligible for Temporary Disability benefits, and if you’re eligible for Family Leave Insurance benefits, then the employer has to hold your position.”

Affected businesses will have to consider how to cover for these employees while they’re on leave, by hiring temporary replacements, for example, Collins said. There are a number of ways companies could handle a leave of absence for pregnancies beyond hiring temps, HR Brew reported last year, including having colleagues fill in for one another. Some of those approaches may prove harder for small organizations, though.

Collins emphasized the importance of training managers on these new obligations. “If your managers don’t understand what these people’s rights are, they may unknowingly be violating the law.”