New Jersey Employment Lawyers Blog
The New Jersey Legislature has passed a bill to enhance paid family leave for New Jersey employees. If Governor Phil Murphy executes the bill, New Jersey employees will receive more pay and more time off from work while caring for a newborn or ill family member. This would mark another significant legislative victory for employees in New Jersey.
Currently, new parents and caregivers can receive up to six (6) weeks of benefits equal to two-thirds of their pay, with a maximum benefit of $633 per week in paid leave benefits. If bill A3975 is passed as it stands, the eligibility period for time off would expand from 6 weeks to 12 weeks, and further would raise the maximum benefit to 85% of wages, with a cap of $859 per week.
In 2008, New Jersey became the second state to adopt a paid family leave policy. The new bill further enhances the originally penned paid family leave as it expands the term “family member” to include siblings, grandparent, grandchild, parent-in-law, domestic partner, or any other individual related to the employee by blood and any other individual the employee shows to have a close association with which is the equivalent of a family relationship. The definition of “child” is also expanded under the proposed law to include a foster child and a child who becomes a child of a parent pursuant to a valid written agreement between the parent and a gestational carrier.