Family and Medical Leave: New Jersey
This Family and Medical Leave policy applies to employees in New Jersey under the New Jersey Family Leave Act (NJFLA) and explains when eligible employees can take job-protected time off to bond with a new child, care for a covered family member with a serious health condition (including certain situations involving domestic or sexual violence), or respond to specific public health emergencies. It also clarifies how NJFLA job protection and benefits continuation typically interact with federal FMLA leave and New Jersey wage replacement programs like Family Leave Insurance (FLI) and Temporary Disability Insurance (TDI), so your organization can set clear expectations around notice, documentation, pay, and reinstatement.
The History Behind Family and Medical Leave Policies in New Jersey
Family and Medical Leave policies are a type of Family & Self Care Leave, and New Jersey's version is pretty standard: protect jobs when employees need time to care for family. New Jersey enacted the New Jersey Family Leave Act (NJFLA) in 1989, when many employers still treated extended family caregiving as a personal problem to solve on nights and weekends. The NJFLA changed that baseline by creating a state right to job-protected leave for bonding with a new child or caring for a family member with a serious health condition, with continued health benefits during approved leave.
What makes NJFLA interesting (and easy to mess up in practice) is that it was built to complement, not copy, the federal FMLA. The NJFLA focuses on family caregiving and bonding, not an employee's own serious health condition, and it uses its own eligibility rules and its own leave bank. Over time, amendments expanded who counts as "family" and added coverage for situations tied to domestic or sexual violence, reflecting a more realistic view of who people actually care for and why leave gets used.
The last big change came out of public health reality. New Jersey updated the NJFLA to cover certain absences tied to declared emergencies, like school or childcare closures and quarantine or isolation needs, because parents and caregivers were getting squeezed between public orders and attendance policies during COVID times. At that time, the state also built out wage replacement through Family Leave Insurance (FLI) and Temporary Disability Insurance (TDI), which is why modern NJ leave conversations often have two tracks: job protection under NJFLA and pay replacement under a separate benefits program. Employers that treat those as one thing usually learn the hard way that they aren't.
Which Law is the Family and Medical Leave Policy Meant to Comply With?
If you create and distribute a Family and Medical Leave Policy for your New Jersey-based employees, it is in an effort to comply with New Jersey's New Jersey Family Leave Act (NJFLA).
How to Write a New Jersey-Specific Family and Medical Leave Policy
- Start with "why" and introduce the concept of New Jersey family leave as job-protected time off with continued benefits, separate from wage replacement programs.
- Define who is eligible to take New Jersey family leave.
- List the covered reasons for leave, including bonding, caring for a family member with a serious health condition, and certain public health emergency-related caregiving needs.
- Define "family member" for purposes of covered leave.
- Explain how leave can be taken and how it coordinates with other job-protected leave programs.
- Describe the notice and documentation process for requesting leave, including the possibility of follow-up medical opinions and the impact of missing documentation.
- Clarify pay and benefit treatment during leave, including how wage replacement programs and optional use of accrued paid time off interact with job protection.
- State how health coverage continuation and other benefits are handled during leave.
- Explain reinstatement rights at the end of leave and note that limited exceptions may apply.
- Include a non-interference and anti-retaliation commitment for requesting or taking protected leave.
When to Include this Policy in Your Employee Handbook
If you have employees in New Jersey and you don't have a similar policy that's available for all US employees, you should include this policy in your employee handbook for New Jersey-based employees.
The law states:
"Each employer shall conspicuously post notification, in a place or places accessible to all employees in each of the employer's workplaces, of each employee's rights provided under this act. The notification shall be in a form issued by the commissioner and shall include an explanation of the act's provisions and information concerning the procedures for filing complaints." (New Jersey Family Leave Act, N.J.S.A. 34:11B-6)
Your employee handbook qualifies.
Other Considerations
The law applies to New Jersey employers who have at least 30 employees working in the US.
Exceptions
None.
Model Policy Template for a Family and Medical Leave Policy
Family and Medical Leave (NJFLA)
You may be entitled to job-protected time off under the New Jersey Family Leave Act (NJFLA) to care for your loved ones during critical moments. This law provides job protection and continuation of benefits during approved leave, separate from the state's Family Leave Insurance (FLI) wage replacement benefits.
To qualify for NJFLA leave, you must have worked here for at least 12 months and have worked at least 1,000 hours in the 12 months prior to the start of leave.
Reasons for Leave
You may be eligible for NJFLA leave for the following reasons:
- To bond with a child within the first year after birth, adoption, or foster care placement.
- To care for a family member with a serious health condition, including when it results from domestic or sexual violence.
- Absences due to certain public health emergencies, such as when your child’s school or childcare is closed because of an epidemic, or when a family member must isolate or quarantine under a public health order or medical advice.
For the purposes of NJFLA, "family member" includes your child, parent, parent-in-law, spouse, domestic partner, civil union partner, grandparent, grandchild, sibling, or any other individual related by blood or with a close association equivalent to a family relationship.
Duration
You may take up to 12 weeks of job-protected leave in a 24-month period under the NJFLA. Leave is typically taken continuously, but depending on the reason for your leave, you may be able to take it in smaller blocks of time (intermittently) or on a reduced schedule. When you request leave, {{the HR Team}} will explain whether intermittent leave is available in your situation and how it works.
If your leave also qualifies as leave under the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), both leaves will generally run at the same time, meaning the leave counts toward your entitlement under each law.
If both you and your spouse work here, and you're requesting leave to bond with a new child, we may limit you to a combined total of 12 weeks between the two of you, unless otherwise required by law.
Notice and Documentation
If your leave is foreseeable, please provide 30 days' notice when possible. If the need is unexpected, notify us as soon as you can.
We may ask for documentation when you take NJFLA leave. The type of documentation depends on the reason for leave, for example a note from a health care provider for a family member’s serious health condition, proof of birth or placement for bonding leave, or confirmation of a school closure or quarantine order during a public health emergency. {{The HR Team}} can explain what is needed.
If we have reason to doubt the validity of the documentation related to a family member’s serious health condition, we may request additional medical opinions from other health care providers, at our expense.
If you do not provide requested documentation within a reasonable time, your leave may be delayed or denied.
Pay and Benefits
Although NJFLA leave itself is unpaid, you may also be eligible for New Jersey's Family Leave Insurance (FLI) program, which can provide partial wage replacement for certain family-related reasons, like bonding with a new child or caring for a family member with a serious health condition. When both NJFLA and FLI apply to the same absence, your NJFLA job protection and FLI benefits will generally run at the same time. More information is available at myleavebenefits.nj.gov.
If you're unable to work because of your own non-work-related health condition, you may instead be eligible for New Jersey’s Temporary Disability Insurance (TDI) benefits. More information is available at myleavebenefits.nj.gov.
You can choose to use paid time off you've accrued during some or all of your NJFLA leave, but using it does not increase the total amount of NJFLA leave you’re entitled to.
While you’re on qualified NJFLA leave, we’ll continue any group health coverage you had before your leave started as if you were still working, as long as you continue to pay your share of the premiums. Other benefits, such as PTO accrual or seniority, will follow our normal rules for employees on temporary leave.
Reinstatement
Your job is generally protected while you're on approved NJFLA leave, which means you'll usually return to the same or an equivalent position when your leave ends, with similar pay, benefits, and working conditions. There are limited situations where reinstatement may not be available, such as when a job or shift would have changed, ended, or been eliminated even if you had not taken leave, or if you fall into a small group of highly paid employees where the law allows an exception. If an exception could apply in your situation, we’ll explain it as early as we reasonably can.
No Retaliation
We will not interfere with your rights under the NJFLA or retaliate against you in any way for requesting or taking job-protected leave.
If you have questions or want to request NJFLA leave, contact {{the HR Team}}.
Other Jurisdictions that may Necessitate a Family and Medical Leave Policy
County-Specific Family and Medical Leave Policies
All New Jersey-Specific Policies & Topics
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The information provided here does not, and is not intended to, constitute legal advice. Only your own attorney can determine whether this information, and your interpretation of it, applies to your particular situation. You should contact legal counsel for advice on any specific legal matter.