On July 17, NJFLA Protections Expand (A3451)

On July 17, 2027, the threshold drops to 10 employees, and on July 17, 2028, the threshold drops to 5 employees.

Also effective July 17, 2026, the bill accelerates employee eligibility to qualify for job-protected family leave. Eligibility requirements for employees of covered employers are reduced from twelve (12) months of employment to three (3) months, and from one thousand (1,000) hours worked in the past year to two hundred fifty (250) hours worked in the past three months.

The law also clarifies that employees who receive monetary benefits through Family Leave Insurance (FLI) or Temporary Disability Insurance (TDI) will be returned to their previous job or an equivalent position with comparable pay, benefits, and seniority. It also strengthens protections against employer retaliation for an employee’s exercise of their rights to use, or any attempt to use, family leave.

Lastly, an employee eligible for multiple kinds of leave—earned sick leave, TDI, or FLI—can choose the order in which to use them, though they cannot receive more than one type of paid leave at the same time.

These sweeping structural changes to the NJFLA will gradually impact most small employers across New Jersey. It is important that employers understand how these changes will impact their business and their employees.