
Find out what's new - and what's going to happen next - with the Temporary Disability and Family Leave Insurance law.
changes to the law
On February 19th, 2019, Governor Phil Murphy signed legislation that changes New Jersey’s Family Leave Insurance and Temporary Disability Law. Some of the changes are effective right away, while others will be phased in over the next two years.
Scroll down to see highlights of what is new and different. You can find out exactly when the changes will take effect by checking the tabbed sections below the sliding images.

We've expanded who counts as a "family member."
You can now receive Family Leave Insurance benefits to care for a child, spouse, parent, or domestic partner as well as parents-in-law, siblings, grandparents, grandchildren, any blood relative, plus anyone else with whom you have a close, family-like relationship.

You don't have to reduce your Family Leave Insurance benefit amount by using paid time off.
Before, if you had paid time off available through your job, your employer could require you to bundle those company-paid days off into your leave time, reducing the amount of Family Leave Insurance benefits for which you could qualify. Now, you can take company-paid time off in addition to the maximum duration of Family Leave Insurance benefits to which you are entitled.

You can now claim Family Leave Insurance benefits to bond with newly placed foster children.
Under the old law, foster parents were only eligible for benefits to provide care to a seriously ill or injured foster child. Now they can claim benefits to take time off to bond with a new foster-care placement.

Family Leave Insurance benefits for bonding can now be claimed intermittently.
Under the old law, parents claiming benefits for bonding had to do so in increments of at least a week at a time. Now, parents can claim benefits in intermittent days if they want to take off shorter increments of time for bonding over the span of the year.

Victims of domestic or sexual violence and their family caregivers are both eligible for Family Leave Insurance benefits.
The law explicitly allows workers to claim Family Leave Insurance benefits when they have to take time off from work to attend to matters related to an occurrence of domestic or sexual violence.
1. Expanded definition of "family member"
Before, you could only receive benefits while caring for a child (up to age 18), parent, spouse, or civil union partner.
Now (for claims that begin on or after February 19, 2019), the definition of "family member" has been expanded to cover more people, including:
- children of any age
- parents-in-law
- siblings
- grandparents
- grandchildren
- domestic partners
- any other individuals related by blood
- any other individuals with whom you have the equivalent of a family relationship
2. No entitlement reduction
Employers can no longer reduce the number of days or weeks you can take off from work and claim Family Leave Insurance benefits to care for a family member or bond with a child.
Before, if you had paid time off available through your job, your employer could require you to bundle those company-paid days off into your leave time.
For example, if you had one week of paid vacation time available, and wanted to take six weeks off to bond with a newborn, your employer could make you take the first week of that leave as your paid vacation time, leaving you with only remaining five weeks to bond and receive Family Leave Insurance benefits.
Now, you can take that paid time off in addition to claiming the maximum allowed Family Leave benefits to which you are entitled. Using the example above, that would mean you could take seven weeks total - one week as paid vacation time from your employer, and six weeks of Family Leave Insurance benefits paid by the state.
3. Including foster children for bonding leave
You can now claim Family Leave Insurance benefits to bond with a newly placed foster child.
4. Change to bonding increment requirements
You can now claim Family Leave Insurance benefits to bond for as many or as few days at a time as you wish. Under the old law, you had to claim benefits for bonding in one consecutive 6-week period, or in separate week-long increments. Now, you can take it one or more days at a time, up to the maximum days available.
5. Expanding coverage to victims of domestic or sexual violence
The bill explicitly allows workers to claim Family Leave Insurance benefits for time off from work to attend to matters related to an occurrence of domestic or sexual violence.
6. No more waiting week
Although it still applies for Temporary Disability Insurance, workers who are approved for Family Leave Insurance benefits will not have to wait to be paid for the first week of their leave.
We will now pay short, intermittent Family Leave Insurance claims.
When this provision of the law kicks in, workers who only claim a few days at a time for caregiving or bonding will be paid for those days after a week, even if they don't claim additional days. (Previously, if they didn't take additional days within a certain time frame, those first days would not be paid.)
Increased employee contributions
Starting in 2020, workers will notice higher payroll deductions for Family Leave Insurance. As of January 1, 2020, workers contribute 0.16% of the first $134,900 earned during the calendar year. That means workers who do not earn $134,900 in a year continue to have deductions taken out year round.
The most a worker can contribute for 2020 is $215.84.
1. Increased maximum benefit period
Workers will be able to claim up to 12 consecutive weeks of Family Leave Insurance benefits during a 12-month period (up from the current maximum of six weeks). Workers who take intermittent days for caregiving or bonding will be able to claim benefits for up to 56 days, up from 42 days under the old law.
2. Increased weekly benefit rate percentage and maximum benefit
The maximum weekly benefit rate will be calculated at 85% of a claimant's average weekly wage, up to a maximum of $881 per week.
3. Ability to continue some part-time work
Workers with more than one job will have the option to take leave from one employer while continuing to work for another. Their weekly benefit rate will be based only on wages from the employment from which they are taking leave.
State Workers' Sick Time
New Jersey State Employers may require up to 2 weeks of accrued sick time to be used before receiving Temporary Disability Insurance. State employees cannot be required to use their last week of sick time.
Increased employee contributions
Starting in 2020, workers will notice higher payroll deductions for Temporary Disability Insurance. As of January 1, 2020, workers contribute 0.26% of the first $134,900 earned during the calendar year. That means workers who do not earn $134,900 in a year continue to have deductions taken out year round.
The most a worker can contribute for 2020 is $350.74.
Increased weekly benefit rate percentage
The maximum weekly benefit rate will be calculated at 85% of a claimant's average weekly wage, up to a maximum of $881 per week.