Family Leave Insurance Contributions and Benefits to be Reduced

Effective January 1, 2011, the employee payroll tax rate for the Family Leave Insurance (FLI) program will be adjusted downward. In a November 24 news release from the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development, Labor Commissioner Harold J. Wirths said, “We have determined that the Family Leave Insurance program does not need to maintain the program’s current tax rate set at 0.12 percent of taxable wages. By cutting the tax rate to 0.06 percent, workers will keep more of their hard-earned wages while maintaining the healthy asset base needed to pay Family Leave Insurance benefits in 2011.” .

The Department also announced that it will reduce the maximum weekly benefit from $561 (in 2010) to $559 in 2011, and will reduce the annual maximum tax amount per worker from $35.64 to $17.76.