New Jersey Family Leave Insurance: Employer Guide
New Jersey pays eligible workers through Family Leave Insurance (FLI), paired with Temporary Disability Insurance for an employee’s own medical leave. An employer’s part is to register with the program, gather contributions, and honor its notice and job-protection requirements.
Below we explain which workers are covered, the length and pay of leave, how funding works and what the employer must do. Contribution rates and dollar limits are revised regularly, frequently each year, so verify current figures with the state agency.
Return to the state paid family and medical leave laws overview
Employers, employees and reasons for leave.
Eligibility depends on the work location, past earnings and the reason for the leave.
Employers. Most New Jersey employers must take part, through the state plan or an approved private plan. The federal government is exempt.
Employees. Eligibility depends on the earnings reported for the employee in the lookback period. The Division publishes the current test.
Reasons for leave. Bonding with a new child within the first year, caring for a family member or loved one with a health condition, and certain domestic or sexual violence matters. Temporary Disability Insurance separately covers an employee’s own non-work illness, injury or pregnancy recovery.
How long leave lasts and what it pays.
Benefits replace part of a worker’s wages for a capped number of weeks.
Duration. Family Leave Insurance pays up to 12 weeks (84 days) of continuous leave, or up to 56 days if taken intermittently. Temporary Disability Insurance pays up to 26 weeks.
Pay. Under FLI, benefits equal 85 percent of the average weekly wage, subject to a weekly cap that is reset annually.
Job protection. The program itself does not protect the job. The New Jersey Family Leave Act and the federal FMLA may.
How the program is paid for.
Contributions are either withheld from employees, paid by the employer or divided; arrangements vary from one state to the next.
Funding. Family Leave Insurance is paid by employees through payroll deduction, with no employer contribution. Temporary Disability Insurance uses an employer contribution plus an employee contribution.
Private plans. Employers can use a Division-approved private plan, insured, self-insured or union-run, if it is at least as generous as the state plan and costs employees no more.
When it started. Family Leave Insurance benefits have been payable since July 1, 2009.
Employer duties.
What follows is what the statute and the administering agency expect from an employer.
Core duties. Post the required notices, give written notice at hire and when leave is needed, withhold contributions and report quarterly earnings.
Based in another state? Eligibility follows the work location of the employee. A company headquartered outside New Jersey that has people working here should ask the agency whether it must register. Michigan companies with remote workers across state lines face this question often.
Verify the numbers. Contribution rates, taxable wage bases and benefit ceilings are updated periodically. Current figures are on the agency page linked below.
Where this connects.
Leave under state law operates alongside the federal law and any policy you have adopted.
State Paid Family and Medical Leave Laws
A rundown of each state program we follow, with effective dates and employer requirements.
FMLA and Group Health Coverage
Where federal FMLA leave meets group health plan coverage.
Benefits Compliance Alerts
Newer developments that touch employer-sponsored plans.
New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development · Employer information from the Division
We map which state programs your employees fall under.
Our team determines which state programs reach your people, how payroll should withhold and report, and how state leave fits with FMLA and your own policies.
Related pages.
State Paid Family and Medical Leave Laws
Each state program we follow.
FMLA and Group Health Coverage
Where federal leave and group health coverage meet.
USERRA and Employer Health Coverage
Group health plan rules for employees away on military duty.
Federal Policy Tracker
Each federal benefits statute we cover, organized by what it requires of an employer.
Benefits Compliance Alerts
Newer developments that touch employer-sponsored plans.
A Compliance Calendar for Your Plan Year
The calendar of filings, notices and due dates that employer plans follow.
Questions that come up.
Brief answers to our most frequent questions, each linking to a full page.
Which employers does New Jersey’s program cover?
Most New Jersey employers must take part, through the state plan or an approved private plan. The federal government is exempt.
Does New Jersey’s program protect an employee’s job?
The program itself does not protect the job. The New Jersey Family Leave Act and the federal FMLA may.
How is New Jersey’s program funded?
Family Leave Insurance is paid by employees through payroll deduction, with no employer contribution. Temporary Disability Insurance uses an employer contribution plus an employee contribution.
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