New Jersey Paid Leave Programs

In Force Through Family Leave Insurance
Benefit Overview

Covered Leaves and Durations

New Jersey offers paid leave through two programs:

  • Temporary Disability insurance for medical leaves
  • Family Leave insurance for family leaves
Leave TypeCovered LeaveMaximum Leave Duration
Medical
  • Leave taken by a covered individual due to their own non-work related illness or injury
26 weeks
Family
  • Provide care for a seriously ill or injured family member
  • Care and bond with a new child for the first year after birth, adoption or placement through foster care
12 weeks
Maternity
  • Temporary Disability provides benefits for expectant mothers when they need to stop working before giving birth, and while recovering afterward
  • Family Leave provides benefits after the recovery period so new mothers can bond with their babies during the first year

26 weeks of TDI1

12 weeks of FLI

1 Pregnancy claims typically pay benefits for 6-8 weeks, depending on the delivery. Additional weekly benefits would be subject to medical certification.

Weekly Benefit Amount

Benefit Calculation: 85% of wages 

Maximum Weekly Benefit: $1,055 

Minimum Weekly Benefit: No minimum 

Waiting Period

New Jersey has a seven-day "waiting week." Employees will not receive benefits for this week until benefits have been paid for the three weeks following the waiting week.

Intermittent Leaves

Employees can take leave intermittently or all at once.

 

 Who's Covered

Covered Employees

CoveredNot Covered

Employees who work in New Jersey are eligible for benefits if they contributed to the state plans through wage deductions and meet one of the following requirements:

  • Worked 20 weeks, earning at least $283 per week for a participating employer
  • Earned a combined total of $14,200 in the previous four quarters

Requirements may change each year.

  • Federal government workers
  • New Jersey residents working out of state
  • Independent contractors

Family Members

Covered employees may take family leave to care for a:

  • Parent
  • Spouse or domestic partner
  • Child (biological, adopted, foster, step, domestic or civil partner’s, or legal ward)
  • Parent-in-law
  • Sibling
  • Grandparent
  • Grandchild
  • Any individual related by blood to the employee
  • Non-related individuals who have a close relationship with the eligible employee and are viewed as family

 

 How it Works

Plan Options

Employers who have at least one employee for at least 30 days in a calendar year must either participate in the state program or offer a private insurance plan.

Family Leave Insurance

  • FLI is a provision of the New Jersey Temporary Disability Benefits Law.
  • The taxable wage cap for PFL changes every Jan. 1.
  • The law provides employees with up to 12 weeks.
  • The state's program also runs concurrently with:
    • The federal Family and Medical Leave Act.
    • New Jersey Temporary Disability Benefits insurance, which offers up to 26 weeks of paid disability leave each year.

Temporary Disability Insurance

  • Provides cash benefits to workers who suffer an illness, injury, or other disability that prevents them from working, and wasn’t caused by their job. 
  • Requires that most employers in New Jersey have Temporary Disability insurance for their employees.

Private Plan

Employers may offer a private temporary disability insurance plan1 instead of participating in the state’s Temporary Disability insurance plan if:

  • The Division of Temporary Disability insurance approves the private plan2
  • The majority of employees agree to the private plan’s costs to them if they’re required to contribute
  • The private plan’s:
    • Paid benefits are at least equal to the state’s plan
    • Eligibility requirements are equal to or less restrictive than the state’s plan
    • Coverage is at least equal to the state’s plan
    • Cost to the employee is equal to or less than the state’s plan

Family Leave insurance can't be privately insured or administered, unlike the state's Temporary Disability Insurance Plan.

  1. Neither the employers nor their workers are required to contribute to the state’s Temporary Disability Insurance Trust Fund while the private plan remains in place.

  2. While a private plan for TDI is an option, insurance carriers have traditionally not been approved to offer this in New Jersey.

Funding

The family leave program is financed 100% by worker payroll deductions. Employers do not contribute to the program.

The temporary disability program is financed 100% by employer contributions. Employees do not contribute to the temporary disability program for the 2023 year.

Temporary Disability Insurance
  • Employee contributions are 0%. 
  • Employer contributions range from 0.10% to 0.75% of the first $42,300 earned by each employee during the calendar year.
  • The taxable wage base changes annually.
Family Leave Insurance
  • Employee contributions are 0.09% of the taxable wage base set at the first $161,400 in covered wages. The maximum FLI employee contribution is $145.26.
  • The taxable wage base changes annually.

The taxable wage base changes annually.

Required Notifications

Employers must follow these notification requirements:

  • Post leave regulations in clearly visible places of the workplace
  • Provide employees with leave regulations:
    • At the time of hire
    • When the employer is notified that an employee is taking covered leave
    • If an employee requests a copy of the leave regulations

More Information

Visit New Jersey's Division of Temporary Disability and Family Leave Insurance site to learn more.

You can also visit The Standard’s Relatively Speaking blog to stay updated on the latest PFML news.

 

 Legislative Activity

No Legislative Activity Found.

 

All information on this page is subject to change as state requirements change.