It is still unclear whether the bill will be passed into reality by the State Senate Speaker. New Jersey’s paid family leave expansion bill has been resubmitted to the State House of Representatives and has passed the subcommittee threshold. On the 8th, the New Jersey State House Appropriations Committee approved the bill (A-3451), which expands New Jersey paid family medical leave coverage to workers at businesses with five or more employees, with 7 in favor and 4 against, and sent it to the plenary session.
Current law requires businesses with 30 or more employees to guarantee the employment of employees who use paid family medical leave. The amendment expands the obligation to guarantee employment based on paid family medical leave to businesses with five or more employees.
This bill was introduced last year but was automatically scrapped due to the end of the 2022-2023 state legislative session. However, it was resubmitted when the 2024-2025 state legislative session began in January of this year and was approved by a subcommittee of the state House of Representatives. However, in the State Senate, it is unclear whether it will become a reality as State Senate Chairman Nick Scutari and others are passive about processing the bill.
In New Jersey, paid family medical leave has been guaranteed since 2009. As of 2023, if you have earned wages of at least $283 per week for 20 weeks or a total of $14,200 or more in 12 months from the date of application, you can use paid family medical leave for up to 12 weeks. Beneficiaries can receive 85% of their salary (up to $1,025 per week). However, only businesses with 30 or more employees are required to guarantee employment for employees who use paid family medical leave, so employees at smaller businesses are unable to use paid family medical leave due to fear of losing their jobs.
The labor community supports expanding paid family medical leave, but companies oppose it. The New Jersey Business and Industry Association’s position is that “it will place an undue burden on small and medium-sized businesses.”