New Jersey Enacts ‘Historic’ Expansion of the New Jersey Family Leave Act

Quick Hits

• On January 17, 2026, outgoing New Jersey governor Phil Murphy signed into law a bill that will expand the reach and protections of the NJFLA.
• The new law also appears to greatly expand state law, including new job-protection provisions for employees taking medical leave.
• The new law takes effect on July 17, 2026, six months following its enactment.

Smaller Employers Affected and Newer Employees Eligible

The new law amends the NJFLA to cover small employers and reduce the minimum amount of time an employee must be employed before being eligible for leave.

The NJFLA currently provides twelve weeks of leave every twenty-four months to eligible employees who require time off to care for a seriously ill family member or bond with a new child. To be eligible for NJFLA leave under existing law, an employee must: (1) work for an employer with thirty or more employees; (2) have been employed at least twelve months; and (3) have worked at least 1,000 hours in the twelve months preceding the requested leave start date.

The new legislation changes each of these eligibility requirements. Now, an employee will be eligible for NJFLA leave if the employee: (1) works for an employer with fifteen or more employees; (2) has been employed for at least three months; and (3) has worked at least 250 hours in the preceding three months.

New Medical Leave Job-Protection Provisions

The new law also appears to greatly expand state law to include new job-protection provisions for employees taking medical leave and receiving state Temporary Disability Insurance (TDI) benefits. Currently, the NJFLA (unlike the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA)) does not provide job-protected leave for an employee’s own serious medical condition. Under the new law, employees receiving state TDI benefits for their own medical condition must be restored to the same job they had before taking leave, or a job that is equivalent in terms of “seniority, status, employment benefits, pay, and other terms and conditions of employment.”

Although this amendment to the TDI law does not describe this as a new “leave” right, the job restoration requirement may effectively create a new job-protected medical leave entitlement. Further, since employees are eligible for up to twenty-six weeks of state TDI benefits, the new law may provide for up to twenty-six weeks of medical leave—a truly remarkable change in the law, providing fourteen more weeks of job protection than is currently available under the FMLA.

Whether the new law in fact creates a new twenty-six–week, job-protected medical leave entitlement, or perhaps simply requires restoration to prior employment when an employee returns from leave under an employer’s existing medical leave policy or takes leave under the FMLA is unclear.

Ability to Choose Order of Earned Sick Leave and Temporary Disability Benefits

Additionally, if an employee is eligible for earned sick leave under New Jersey’s Earned Sick Leave Law and eligible for TDI benefits, the employee may choose “the order in which the different kinds of leave are taken,” but will not receive more than one kind of paid leave at the same time.

What This Means for Employers

The law takes effect on July 17, 2026, six months following its enactment. Given the extraordinary changes the new law appears to implement, we hope state authorities will issue guidance and clarification immediately to address, among other things, whether the law in fact requires up to twenty-six weeks of job-protected medical leave and, if so, how the law interacts with the FMLA. In the meantime, employers will want to review and modify their current policies to be prepared for the law’s enactment.

Ogletree Deakins’ Morristown office and the Leaves of Absence/Reasonable Accommodation Practice Group will continue to monitor developments and will provide updates on the Leaves of Absence and New Jersey blogs as additional information becomes available.

In addition, the Ogletree Deakins Client Portal tracks developments and provides real-time updates on Leaves and New Jersey’s employment laws, including the NJFLA. Full law summaries are available for Premium-level subscribers. Snapshots and Updates are available for all registered client users. For more information on the Client Portal or to inquire about a Client Portal subscription, please reach out to clientportal@ogletree.com.

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