New Jersey to Provide Payments to Workers Taking Leave to Care for Dependent Family Members

On April 7, after several years of intensive lobbying and legislative negotiations, the New Jersey Senate passed an Assembly bill that, once signed by the governor, will make New Jersey the third state to provide state payments for workers on leave to care for dependent family members. Governor Corzine has announced that he intends to sign the bill. The bill amends New Jersey’s Temporary Disability Benefits Law (TDBL) such that, commencing July 1, 2009, employees taking “family temporary disability leave” shall be eligible to apply to the state for up to six weeks of disability benefit payments. Although the amendment does not grant any new entitlement to take family leave, the amendment now grants employees up to six weeks of payments during a qualifying leave—which inevitably will encourage more employees to take leave. The amendment also imposes additional administrative requirements of which all New Jersey employers should be aware—even those employers otherwise exempt from other federal or state laws governing family leave.

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