New Jersey Employment Legislation Update 2026

Quick Hits

• New Jersey lawmakers are currently considering several bills that would have significant implications for employers.
• Key proposals include the establishment of paid prenatal leave, an extension of pregnancy-related disability benefits, and amendments to ensure paid sick leave applies to employees bound by amendable collective bargaining agreements.

Here is a summary of some notable employment law bills currently under consideration.

Pregnancy-Related Employment Protections

Assembly Bill (A) 113—Concerns bereavement leave for miscarriage and stillbirth

This bill would amend the New Jersey Family Leave Act to include “the death of a child or miscarriage or stillbirth of a child” in the definition of job-protected “family leave.” The bill would also amend the definition of “family leave” to include “time to grieve.” The bill would allow employees to certify the leave by “stat[ing] the date of the death, miscarriage, or stillbirth.” The bill was introduced on January 13, 2026.

A4358—Expansion of pregnancy-related temporary disability

Under current law, employees are entitled to paid temporary disability benefits during the four weeks before their expected delivery date and the six weeks after their actual delivery date. This bill would expand the post-delivery pregnancy-related temporary disability leave benefits from the current six weeks to eight weeks. The bill was introduced on February 19, 2026.

A440—Establishes the “New Jersey Paid Prenatal Personal Leave Act”

This bill would require all New Jersey employers to provide every employee with up to twenty hours of paid prenatal leave (not to be confused with “parental” leave) each year, to be used during the employee’s pregnancy for pregnancy-related healthcare, including physical examinations, medical procedures, monitoring, and testing. Employees would be allowed to take leave in one-hour increments, to be paid at their regular rate of pay. It is unclear what documentation employers would be permitted to request to substantiate the need for prenatal leave, if any, as the bill provides that employers “shall not require the disclosure of confidential information relating to a mental or physical illness, injury, or condition as a condition of providing paid prenatal personal leave.” Employers would not be required to pay employees for unused paid prenatal personal leave after separation of employment. The bill was introduced on January 13, 2026.

A4704 / S2689—Accommodations for Breastfeeding Employees

This bill would amend the NJLAD to make it an unlawful employment practice to fail to accommodate a lactating employee by providing appropriate accommodations for as long as “the employee desires,” meaning however long the employee desires to lactate. These accommodations could include reasonable break time paid at the employee’s regular rate of compensation, job restructuring, and a modified work schedule for the purpose of milk expression. This bill also clarifies that the location the employer must provide the employee to express milk must be a suitable room “free from intrusion of other employees or customers of the employer’s business, if applicable, other than a restroom.” (Emphasis added.) Finally, the bill would add “breastfeeding” as a protected status under the equal pay provisions of the NJLAD. A4704 / S2689 was introduced on March 16, 2026.

Leaves of Absence

Senate Bill (S) 3510—Clarifying New Jersey’s Earned Sick Leave Law (ESLL)

Enacted in 2018, the ESLL provides most employees with up to forty hours of paid sick leave per year. The ESLL does not apply to employees “performing service in the construction industry” covered by a collective bargaining agreement (CBAs) in effect when the law took effect until that CBA’s expiration. S3510 would ensure that the ESLL’s provisions apply to employees subject to amendable CBAs when those CBAs are amended. The bill was introduced on February 12, 2026.

Amendments to the NJLAD

A4563 / S1631—Height and weight discrimination

This bill would amend the NJLAD to expressly prohibit discrimination “because of the height or weight of any individual.” Exceptions include circumstances in which height and weight requirements are a “bona fide occupational qualification[s],” which generally means a requirement that an employee be of a certain height or weight because it is genuinely necessary for the business to run properly or for the employee to perform the job safely and effectively. A4563 / S1631 was introduced on January 13, 2026, and was passed by the New Jersey Senate on February 24, 2026. It is currently under consideration by the New Jersey General Assembly.

A4487 / S3779—Discrimination based on menstruation, perimenopause, and menopause

This bill would amend the NJLAD to make it an unlawful employment practice for employers to discriminate against employees on the basis of menstruation, perimenopause, or menopause, if symptoms of such conditions “substantially interfere with” employees’ abilities “to perform one or more job functions.” The legislation was introduced in the Assembly on February 24, 2026, and in the Senate on March 5, 2026.

A2041—The “New Jersey Intern Protection Act”

This bill seeks to provide legal protections and remedies for interns by adding them to the list of individuals protected by the NJLAD and the Conscientious Employee Protection Act (CEPA), which provides whistleblower protection to employees. The bill would provide interns with employment protections and allow them to bring actions against employers. The bill was introduced on January 13, 2026.

A767—Health benefits and female contraceptives

This bill would make it an unlawful employment practice under the NJLAD to exclude health insurance coverage for the purchase of “female contraceptives.” The bill includes exceptions for “religious employer[s],” defined as churches, associations of churches, and church-supported elementary or secondary schools, if the purchase of female contraceptives conflicts with their “bona fide religious beliefs and practices.” The bill was introduced on January 13, 2026.

A4194—Public Health Emergencies and States of Emergency

This bill would make it an unlawful employment practice for employers to require employees who are parents or guardians of a school-aged (K-12) child “to be physically present for work, when that work can be performed remotely, during the public health emergency and state of emergency declared by the Governor,” unless the employer can demonstrate that it would be an “undue hardship” on its business operations. There would be a “rebuttable presumption” that an employee can perform work remotely if the employee has already worked remotely for the lesser of either two consecutive pay periods or two weeks. That presumption can be rebutted with a “preponderance of the evidence showing that the employee cannot perform essential duties remotely.” The bill was introduced on February 19, 2026.

Wage and Hour

A4639 / S2105—Prohibition on training repayment agreements

This bill would prohibit employers from requiring employees and prospective employees to enter into a “training repayment agreement” as a condition of employment and make such agreements void and unenforceable. Such an agreement generally requires employees to reimburse the employer, a training provider, or another third party for the costs of providing training to the employee. The bill would exclude cash advances, payments for equipment purchased or leased by the employee, educational sabbatical leave contracts, and training repayment agreements made as part of a collective bargaining agreement. This bill was introduced in the New Jersey Senate on January 13, 2026, and in the General Assembly on March 10, 2026.

Employment Law

S3604—Exemptions to Domestic Workers’ Bill of Rights (DWBR)

This bill would amend the DWBR, which was enacted in 2024, to clarify that certain licensed or certified home health care workers and hospice care workers are not intended to be treated as “domestic workers” under the DWBR. The bill would exclude from the definition of “hiring entity” under the DWBR, home care service agencies, including health service firms, and licensed hospice care programs with respect to services performed by licensed workers. The bill was introduced on February 19, 2026.

A4414—Employment verifications

This bill would immunize employers from civil liability when an employer in good faith discloses information to a prospective employer “contained within the employee’s personnel file, including but not limited to” title, job qualifications, compensation, period of employment, attendance record, workplace accidents, and, if applicable, the reason for separation. Employers disclosing such information would be “presumed to be acting in good faith unless it is shown by clear and convincing evidence that the employer acted with actual malice toward the employee or former employee.” The bill was introduced on February 19, 2026.

Next Steps

The New Jersey legislative session began on January 13, 2026, and runs until December 31, 2026. At this time, most of the bills above remain in early stages, and it is not clear which, if any, will pass. Still, the bills highlight the state legislature’s concerns and potential new compliance obligations for employers. Employers may want to keep their eyes on the progress of these and other bills.

Ogletree Deakins’ Morristown office will continue to monitor developments and will provide updates on the New Jersey blog as additional information becomes available.

In addition, the Ogletree Deakins Client Portal covers compliance updates in Leave, EEO, Wage and Hour, and other employment laws. If these laws are enacted, they will be included under the applicable topics and on the New Jersey jurisdiction page. Snapshots and updates are available for all registered client users. Premium and Advanced subscribers have access to detailed federal, state, and local law summaries, as well as related template documents. For more information on the Client Portal or a Client Portal subscription, please reach out to clientportal@ogletree.com.

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