Under the New Jersey Family Leave Act, certain employees are entitled to take leave without losing their jobs as long as the following conditions are met:

Employer - The employer must have at least 50 employees who have been working for at least 20 weeks during the current or previous year. When counting the number of employees, all of the employer’s employees, whether located in New Jersey or not, are included.
Employee - The employee who wants to take leave must have worked for that employer for one year and must have worked at least 1,000 hours, including paid overtime hours, during the 12 months immediately prior to taking the leave.
Exception - An employer may deny leave to employees whose base salaries are within the highest 5% of all employees if their absence would have a substantial negative effect on the business. The same is true for the seven most highly paid employees. The employer must provide proper notice to the employee that they fall into this category.

Click on the link below for Frequently Asked Questions and Answers...

NJ Family Leave Act & Family and Medical Leave Act: FAQs

RESPONSIBILITY FOR INSURANCE DURING AN UNPAID LEAVES OF ABSENCE

Please note that it is the employee’s responsibility to pay premiums (maintain coverage) directly to insurance carriers (Examples: AFLAC, Prudential) during an unpaid leave of absence. During the school year, you may elect to have certain insurance premiums deducted voluntarily from your paycheck through payroll deductions. The Little Ferry Payroll department forwards these payments to the respective insurance company on your behalf. During an unpaid leave of absence, however, premiums are not sent to the same carrier on your behalf. It is your responsibility to contact your insurance agent/representative and make arrangement for payment and continuation of coverage.

In addition, during an unpaid leaves of absence, you are not responsible to maintain, or pay back, dues to NJEA or the Teamsters Union. These dues will “restart” when you return to work. If you have an insurance policy through NJEA, however, you may be required to maintain NJEA dues to keep policy in force.

Please contact your insurance representative, during an unpaid leave of absence, for updated procedures.

Family Leave Fact Sheet Download