Federal & State Regulations | FMLA - New Jersey | J. J. Keller® Compliance Network

State Info

Summary of differences between federal and state regulations

New Jersey employers need to be aware of not only the federal FMLA, but also earned paid sick leave, the New Jersey Family Leave Act (NJFLA), New Jersey Paid Family Leave Insurance (FLI), the New Jersey Temporary Disability Insurance (TDI), the New Jersey Emergency Responders Employment Protection Act, and the New Jersey Security and Financial Empowerment (SAFE) Act.

Earned paid sick leave

Private employers with employees working in the state need to provide employees with accrued paid sick leave.

Covered employers

The law applies to all employers with employees in the state.

Employee eligibility

Employees simply need to work for an employer, but employees in the construction industry under a CBA, per diem health care employees, and public employees are not included.

Leave entitlement

Employees who work in the state may accrue one hour of sick leave for every 30 hours worked. They may accrue and use up to 40 hours of leave in a period of 12 consecutive months established by the employer. Employers may front-load the leave at the beginning of the year. Employers may limit accrual and carry over to 40 hours of paid sick leave.

Employees begin accruing leave when they begin working for the company and may use it as soon as it is accrued.

Employers may limit carry over more than 40 hours of accrued sick time in a single benefit year. Instead of carrying over leave, employers may offer that an employee be paid for unused leave in the final month of the employer’s benefit year. The employee has 10 calendar days to choose to accept the payment. The employee must choose a payment for the full amount of leave or for 50 percent of the amount of leave (the other 50 percent carries over).

Employers may prohibit employees from using foreseeable earned sick leave on certain dates and require reasonable documentation if unforeseeable leave is used during those dates.

If employers already provide paid sick leave that meets the law’s provisions, they need not provide more.

Employees are to be paid at the same rate they normally earn.

Effective July 17, 2026, employees control the sequence of what form of leave to use, whether TDI, NJFLA, or earned sick leave; thereby allowing stacking of leave. Employers may not dictate the sequence.

Reasons for leave

Employees may use the paid sick leave for the following reasons:

For diagnosis, care, treatment, or recovery from an employee’s mental or physical illness, injury or other adverse health condition, or for preventive medical care;
For the employee to care for a family member during diagnosis, care, treatment, or recovery from, the family member’s mental or physical illness, injury or other adverse health condition, or preventive medical care;
Due to circumstances resulting from the employee or a family member being a victim of domestic or sexual violence, including obtaining medical attention, services from a victim services organization, psychological or other counseling, relocation, or legal services;
When the employee is unable to work because of a closure of the employee’s workplace or his or her child’s school or place of care due to a public health emergency, or if the employee’s or a family member’s presence in the community of the employee would jeopardize the health of others; or
In relation to an employee’s child, to attend a school conference, meeting, function, or other event requested or required by the school, or to attend a meeting regarding a child’s care in connection with the child’s health condition or disability.

Family members include children, grandchildren, siblings, spouses, domestic partners, civil union partners, parents, or grandparents, spouses of parents or grandparents, brothers- or sisters-in-law, or anyone else related to an employee by blood or close associate equivalent to a family relationship.

Notice

If an employee’s need for leave is foreseeable, employers may require up to seven days’ advance notice of the intention to use the leave and its expected duration. Employees must make a reasonable effort to schedule the leave in a manner that does not unduly disrupt the employer’s operations. If the reason for the leave is not foreseeable, employers may require employees to give notice of the intention as soon as practicable, if the employee has been notified of this requirement.

Employers may require reasonable documentation supporting the leave if the leave is for three or more consecutive days. This documentation should be completed by a health care provider and indicate the need for the leave and, if possible, number of days of leave. For domestic/sexual violence, other documentation is acceptable.

Employers must display a notice of the employee rights, including the amount of earned sick leave to which they are entitled, the terms of its use, and applicable remedies. They must also provide each employee with a written copy upon hire and when an employee first requests leave.

New Jersey Family Leave Act

The New Jersey Family Leave Act (NJFLA) applies to public and private employers with 30 or more employees.

Effective July 17, 2026, the NJ FLA applies to employers with 15 or more employees.

Employee eligibility

To be eligible for leave, an employee must have worked at least one year with at least 1,000 hours of service during the immediately preceding 12 months. In contrast, the FMLA requires that employees work at least 12 months and 1,250 hours during the 12-month period immediately preceding the leave, and work at a site with at least 50 company employees within 75 miles.

Effective July 17, 2026, employees are eligible for NJFLA, if they have:

Worked for the employer for at least 3 months, and
Performed at least 250 hours of work in the preceding 3 months.

Leave entitlement

Unlike the FMLA, which allows up to a total of 12 weeks of leave during a 12-month period, New Jersey allows eligible employees 12 weeks of leave within any 24-month period.

However, an employer may deny leave to key salaried employees (those among the highest-paid 5% or among seven highest-paid employees) if necessary to prevent serious economic harm.

Employees control the sequence of what form of leave to use, whether TDI, FLA, or earned sick leave; thereby allowing stacking of leave. Employers may not dictate the sequence.

Reasons for leave

During a state of emergency declared by the Governor, an epidemic of a communicable disease declared by the Commissioner of Health or other public health authority, or a known or suspected exposure to the communicable disease, the NJ FLA provides leave for the following reasons:

To care for or bond with a child, as long as the leave begins within 1 year of the child’s birth or placement for adoption or foster care;
To care for a family member, or someone who is the equivalent of family, with a serious health condition (including a diagnosis of COVID-19), or who has been isolated or quarantined because of suspected exposure to a communicable disease (including COVID-19) during a state of emergency; or
To provide required care or treatment for a child during a state of emergency if their school or place of care is closed by order of a public official due to an epidemic of a communicable disease (including COVID-19) or other public health emergency.

Otherwise, the NJFLA provides family leave for the following purposes:

The birth of a child of the employee (even if the birth of a child conceived using a gestational carrier agreement),
The adoption or foster placement of a child by the employee, or
The serious health condition of a family member of the employee.

Family members include a parent, child under 18, spouse, civil union partner, parents-in-law, siblings, grandparents, grandchildren, any other individual related by blood to the employee, and any other individual the employee shows to have a close association with the equivalent of a family relationship. The family member is to have a serious health condition requiring inpatient care, continuing medical treatment, or medical supervision. The Family Leave Act considers parents to be: in-laws, step-parents, foster parents, adoptive parents or others having a parent-child relationship with an employee.

Unlike the FMLA, the NJFLA does not allow leave for an employee’s own serious health condition. Thus, even though an employee may utilize all of his or her allotted time under FMLA due to his or her own serious health condition, the employee may subsequently be entitled to time off under the NJFLA in connection with the birth or adoption/foster placement of a child or the serious illness of a family member.

When an employee requests leave for a reason covered by both the NJFLA and another law, such as the federal FMLA, the leave simultaneously counts against the employee's entitlement under both laws.

Maintenance of health benefits

Similar to the FMLA, New Jersey requires that employers continue to maintain health and employment benefits while an employee is on family leave.

Job restoration

The FMLA states that an employee returning from leave is entitled to his or her former job or an equivalent job. The NJFLA requires that an employee returning from leave is entitled to their former position or to an equivalent position of like seniority, status, employment benefits, pay, and other terms and conditions of employment. Employers covered under both the NJFLA and FMLA must therefore allow the employee on leave to return to their former job, if that job still exists.

Notice

Similar to the FMLA, the NJFLA requires that an employee give advance notice of leave to their employer in a reasonable and practicable manner. Instead of being a “leave” provision, the law provides for a monetary benefit.

Paid Family Leave (Family Leave Insurance - FLI)

All New Jersey employees are able to have payroll deductions made so they can take paid time off. The law applies to all private and governmental employers subject to the unemployment compensation law.

Unlike federal FMLA or NJFMLA, Paid Family Leave is not designed to provide job-protected time off, but rather to provide some income while taking time off. Like other income-replacement programs, employees must apply for benefits.

There is no employer contribution to the program. Employers withhold a percent of employee taxable wages. The wages, deductions, and payments are submitted to the state.

Employers can chose to provide self-coverage or arrange to have employees covered by a private insurance carrier. These alternatives require prior approval by the Division of Temporary Disability Insurance.

Employee eligibility

Employees who have worked at least 20 calendar weeks where they earned a minimum amount per week before leave is to begin are eligible for the benefit.

Leave entitlement

Employees may apply for and take up to 12 weeks of FLI leave, or 56 days on an intermittent basis.

Eligible applicants who are covered by the state FLI plan will receive weekly benefits of 2/3 an employee’s weekly pay, to a maximum of 53 percent of the state average wage.

Reasons for leave

Leave may be taken to provide care for a sick family member or to care for a newborn or newly adopted or foster-placed child, or for domestic/sexual violence. Leave may also be taken for the employee’s or a family member’s quarantine or isolation in relation to an epidemic of a communicable disease.

Family members include spouses, civil union partners, domestic partners, parents, children, siblings, parents-in-law, grandparents, grandchildren, or any other blood relative, as well as anyone the employee shows to have a close association the equivalent of a family relationship. Parents include those that are biological, foster, adoptive, step, or legal guardians. Children include those that are biological, adopted, foster, step, legal ward, children of a domestic partner or civil union partner.

Employees may take family leave for reasons related to domestic or sexual violence regarding an employee or family member victim.

The definition of care and a serious health condition are similar to those of federal FMLA. Leave may be taken intermittently when the employer agrees.

Job restoration

The FLI does not specifically require employers to restore employees to their positions upon the end of leave, but employers are prohibited from retaliating against employees for taking FLI leave. The federal and New Jersey family and medical leave laws do specifically require reinstatement.

Notice

Employees must provide advanced notice of at least 15 days when leave is taken to care for a sick family member. They must provide 30 days’ prior notice to care for the other reasons, including to bond with a child.

Employers may require medical certification. Employers are required to post a notice, provide employees with a copy, and provide a copy to a new employee upon hiring. Employers must also provide written notice whenever an employee notifies the employer of the need for leave.

Temporary Disability Insurance (TDI)

Employers must participate in the state temporary disability insurance (TDI) program and deduct payroll taxes for employees working in NJ. Employers may, however, choose to provide employees with coverage through a private insurance plan that meets NJ requirements.

Employers must:

Report employees’ quarterly earnings to the NJ Division of Temporary Disability and Family Leave Insurance (Division). The Division uses those reported earnings to qualify a claim and establish a weekly benefit amount
Closely monitor all benefits issued to their employees and notify the Division immediately if benefits are being issued incorrectly.
Report the taxable portion of TDI benefits on employees’ W-2 for the preceding calendar year. Both NJ workers and employers contribute to the cost of the TDI program. Workers contribute through deductions that employers take out of their paychecks.

Employee eligibility

TDI provides cash benefits to NJ workers who have to stop working due to a physical or mental health condition or other disability unrelated to their work.

In order to have a valid claim for TDI benefits, they need to have paid into the program through their employment and meet minimum gross earnings requirements. This minimum changes every year. Employees must have worked 20 weeks.

Employees apply for the benefits through the state.

Generally, employees who work a significant amount of time outside of NJ are not covered, but should still apply to find out if they are eligible. Employees may be eligible to receive benefits if they work in NJ, regardless of where they live.

Leave entitlement

Employees receive up to 26 weeks of TDI benefits for their own medical condition. An employee’s disability must last longer than 7 days. The first 7 consecutive days of each period of disability are collectively known as the waiting week.

The waiting week becomes payable when benefits have been paid for all or some part of each of the three weeks immediately following the waiting week.

Donation leave

Employees are entitled to be restored to their position or an equivalent one after leave for donating any organ or bone marrow. This provision is part of the NJ TDI Law.

If, however, the employer has a reduction in force or layoff, and the employee would not otherwise been reemployed, the employee would not be entitled to reinstatement. The employee would retain rights under any applicable layoff and recall system, including one under a collective bargaining agreement.

Concurrency

Employers may be able to require employees to take paid time off (PTO) before TDI benefits. It depends on how they meet the requirements of the NJ earned sick leave law.

Employers who separate NJ earned sick leave from their PTO policy can require employees to take PTO before claiming TDI benefits. Employers cannot require them to take time accrued under the NJ earned sick leave law.

Some employers use their PTO policy to follow the NJ Earned Sick Leave law. In this case, the employer may not require an employee to utilize any of their PTO before TDI benefits.

Any day that an employee receives full wages in paid time off (or NJ earned sick leave), they cannot also receive TDI benefits. This means that if an employee uses employer-paid time off or NJ earned sick leave first, it will postpone TDI eligibility and may reduce the length of time an employee receives TDI benefits.

Effective July 17, 2026, employees control the sequence of what form of leave they use, whether TDI, FLA, or earned sick leave; thereby allowing stacking of leave. Employers may not dictate the sequence.

Notice

Employers must display TDI posters in a workplace location clearly visible to employees. They must also provide written notice of TDI when an employee is hired, requests information, or notifies an employer of their need for leave.

Employees must provide the Division with a medical certification to confirm the period during which they are unable to work.

Reinstatement

The NJ TDI doesn’t specifically protect an employee’s job. Having their job protected during leave is separate from getting paid. While on leave, their job may be protected under state and federal job protection laws.

Effective July 17, 2026, employers must restore employees who use TDI benefits to their position or a position of equivalent seniority, pay, and benefits upon their return.

Volunteer Emergency Responders Employment Protection Act

All New Jersey employers are prohibited from terminating, dismissing, or suspending an employee who fails to report to work because he or she served as a volunteer emergency responder during a state of emergency or is actively engaged in responding to an emergency alarm.

Such time off need not be paid; however, employees may substitute earned vacation or sick days, if available.

Employees must provide notice at least one hour before their scheduled work reporting time that they are rendering emergency services.

Upon return to work, the employee is to provide a copy of the incident report and a certification by the incident commander or other official or officer in charge affirming that the employee was actively engaged in emergency services. This should also include the date and time the employee was relieved from emergency duty.

If the employee is absent for more than one work day, the employer is to be given notice each day of the absence.

These provisions need not apply to “essential” employees. These are generally employees that need to report to or stay at work to continue company operations during emergencies.

Security and Financial Empowerment (SAFE) Act

Employers with 25 or more employees for each working day during each of 20 or more calendar workweeks in the current or preceding calendar year must allow eligible employees time off if the employee or a family member is a victim of domestic or sexual violence.

Employees are eligible for leave under the SAFE Act if they have been employed for at least 12 months and worked at least 1,000 hours in the preceding 12 months. Eligible employees are entitled to take up to 20 days of leave within a 12-month period beginning when an employee first takes leave.

Eligible employees may take leave under the SAFE Act for the following reasons:

To seek medical attention for, or recover from, physical or psychological injuries caused by domestic or sexual violence to the employee or the employee’s child, parent, parent in-law, spouse, domestic partner, or civil union partner, sibling, grandparent, grandchild, any other blood relative, or any individual the employee shows to have a close association with equivalent to a family relationship;
To obtain services from a victim services organization;
To obtain counseling;
To participate in safety planning, temporarily or permanently relocate, or take other safety actions;
To seek legal assistance or remedies to ensure health and safety; or
To attend, participate in, or prepare for criminal or civil court proceedings.

Employees may elect to substitute accrued paid leave, or an employer may require such a substitution. Employees taking SAFE leave are eligible for income benefits from the state, similar to those under NJFLI leave.

If the need for leave is foreseeable, employees are to give advance written notice of the need for leave.

Employers may require that employees provide documentation supporting the domestic violence or sexually violent offense on which the leave is based. Sufficient documentation includes one or more of the following:

A domestic violence restraining order or other documentation of equitable relief issued by a court of competent jurisdiction;
A letter or other written documentation from the county or municipal prosecutor documenting the domestic violence or sexually violent offense;
Documentation of the conviction of a person for the domestic violence or sexually violent offense;
Medical documentation of the domestic violence or sexually violent offense;
Certification from a certified domestic violence specialist or the director of a designated domestic violence agency or rape crisis center that the employee or family member is a victim; or
Other documentation or certification of the domestic violence or sexually violent offense provided by a social worker, member of the clergy, shelter worker, or other professional who has assisted the employee or family member in dealing with the domestic violence or sexually violent offenses.

Employers are to post a notice of the rights and obligations of the law.