Murphy signs expansion of NJ Family Leave Act into law

The basics:

• Murphy signs legislation expanding eligibility under New Jersey Family Leave Act
• New law extends job-protected leave to more than 400K additional workers
• Significantly lowers eligibility thresholds for employer size, tenure & hours worked
• Business groups oppose the measure, citing added costs, litigation risk for small firms

In his final weekend as New Jersey’s governor, Phil Murphy signed into law a major expansion of the New Jersey Family Leave Act. The move significantly broadens access to job-protected family leave.

Murphy signed Assembly Bill 3451/Senate Bill 2950 on Jan. 17. The legislation extends protections to more than 400,000 additional workers statewide.

As NJBIZ previously reported, business groups and leaders vehemently opposed the measure as it made its way through Trenton. Detractors say the legislation delivers a significant blow to small businesses already struggling in today’s challenging economic environment. The bill passed during the recent lame duck session.

The NJFLA provides up to 12 weeks of job-protected leave every 24 months for eligible employees to care for a seriously ill family member or to bond with a new child through birth, adoption or foster placement.

While New Jersey already offers paid Family Leave Insurance (FLI) benefits, supporters of the new law argue that eligibility for job protection lagged behind. That left many workers – especially those at small businesses –fearful of losing their jobs if they took leave, they said.

Under the expansion, New Jersey Family Leave eligibility is broadened in three key ways:

• Lowers employer-size threshold from 30 employees to 15 employees
• Reduces the minimum length of employment from 12 months to three months
• Reduces the work-hour requirement from 1,000 hours over 12 months to 250 hours over the prior three months

The law also strengthens job protections for workers using Temporary Disability Insurance. The TDI updates require employers restore workers to the same or an equivalent position upon return.

“I am proud to sign this legislation into law and expand job protection to hundreds of thousands of additional New Jersey workers,” said Murphy. “By amending the eligibility requirements for job-protected leave, we are ensuring newer employees and employees of small businesses are not excluded from the protections of the New Jersey Family Leave Act.

“Now, employees will not have to work as long before being able to utilize their leave with the assurance that they can return to their job once the leave concludes.”

“Expanding access to protected family leave is a commonsense measure to better support New Jersey’s working parents,” said First Lady Tammy Murphy.

Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin, D-19th District, said the law reflects the realities of today’s workforce.

“By reducing the amount of time someone has to be on the job before becoming eligible for family leave, this legislation recognizes the realities of today’s workforce and makes sure more parents can care for and bond with their newborn without fearing they’ll lose their job,” said Coughlin, a prime bill sponsor. “No one should be penalized for needing time to care, and this bill helps make sure the vast majority of workers never will.”

“This law ensures that every New Jersey worker who uses their paid leave benefits now has job security when they need it most,” said Labor Commissioner Robert Asaro-Angelo.

‘A commonsense reform’

Sen. Andrew Zwicker, D-16th District, called the measure a matter of fairness and dignity.

“For too long, hundreds of thousands of workers paid into Family Leave Insurance without knowing if their job would still be there when they return from their own leave,” said Zwicker, also a prime bill sponsor. “In closing the gap by extending protections to employees working at smaller businesses, no one will have to choose between caring for a new child or an aging parent and keeping their livelihood.”

Labor and advocacy groups applauded the legislation.

“This a commonsense reform,” said New Jersey State AFL-CIO President Charles Wowkanech. “Workers shouldn’t lose their job if they use the paid family leave program to care for a newborn baby or to take care of a severely ill family member, especially since workers’ pay 100% of the cost of the program.”

“Workers fully fund NJ Family Leave Insurance and expanded job protections ensure equitable access to paid leave for improved health and economic outcomes of workers and their families,” said Yarrow Willman-Cole, workplace justice program director for New Jersey Citizen Action.

Small business concerns

Chris Emigholz is chief government affairs officer for the New Jersey Business & Industry Association. He said this bill is another classic example of Trenton being tone deaf to the concerns of the state’s smallest employers.

“When one employee in a 15-person business takes paid family leave, it means 7% of a small business’ workforce is gone for 12 weeks,” said Emigholz in a Jan. 12 statement. “Unlike a larger firm that can more easily shift responsibilities among many workers, a small firm may need to hire and train a replacement worker to keep the business running.

“Under this expanded bill, many of our smallest employers will be required to not only protect a worker’s job, no matter what their performance level, but ensure that they come back to the exact same position they left before going on leave,” said Emigholz.

He also noted that if an employee does not return to that same job, under the bill an employee would then have the right to sue.

“Those litigation cost would come at a time when small businesses are already challenged by increased wage cost, supply costs, and energy costs,” Emigholz explained. “In short, it isn’t right. It is outlier policies like this that will continue the decline of our floundering business reputation and our high unemployment.”