New Jersey Family Leave Act: Protecting Your Job While You Care for Loved Ones

Family responsibilities can require time away from work, and New Jersey law provides meaningful protections for eligible employees. The New Jersey Family Leave Act (NJFLA) offers job-protected leave in specific family-related situations. When employers deny valid leave requests or retaliate against employees for exercising their rights, legal remedies may be available.

Castronovo & McKinney, LLC focuses exclusively on employment law and represents employees throughout New Jersey in leave-related disputes. Understanding how the NJFLA works—and how it differs from federal law—is critical in protecting your position.

What the NJFLA Covers

The NJFLA provides eligible employees with up to 12 weeks of job-protected leave within a 24-month period for qualifying family-related reasons. These typically include:

Caring for a family member with a serious health condition

Bonding with a newborn or newly adopted child

Certain family-related situations involving domestic or sexual violence

Unlike the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), the NJFLA does not generally cover leave for an employee’s own medical condition. Instead, it focuses primarily on family care and bonding.

Eligibility Requirements

To qualify for NJFLA leave, employees must meet certain employment and hour requirements, and the employer must fall within the statute’s coverage thresholds. Determining eligibility often requires reviewing length of service, hours worked, and workforce size.

Because eligibility rules differ slightly from federal FMLA requirements, careful analysis is often necessary.

Employer Obligations

Employers must reinstate employees returning from NJFLA leave to the same or an equivalent position. They may not interfere with lawful leave requests or retaliate against employees for exercising their rights.

Failure to restore employment, imposing penalties for leave usage, or discouraging leave requests may violate the statute.

Interaction with Other Leave Laws

In some situations, NJFLA leave may overlap with federal FMLA leave, while in others it may provide additional protected time off. Understanding how these laws coordinate can affect the total duration of job-protected leave available.

Strategic guidance helps ensure that leave rights are fully preserved and properly documented.

Potential Remedies

Employees who successfully pursue NJFLA claims may recover lost wages, benefits, emotional distress damages, and attorneys’ fees. Courts may also order reinstatement or other corrective relief.

Because strict timelines apply to employment claims, early legal evaluation is advisable when disputes arise.

Learn More About NJFLA Rights

For additional guidance on state leave protections and how they apply in New Jersey, review this resource: New Jersey Family Leave Act (NJFLA).

Contact Castronovo & McKinney, LLC

Castronovo & McKinney, LLC
71 Maple Ave
Morristown, NJ 07960
Phone: 973-920-7888
Email: [email protected]
Hours: Monday – Friday, 9:00 AM – 6:00 PM

The firm represents employees and employers throughout New Jersey, including Bergen County, Essex County, Middlesex County, and Morris County, as well as communities such as Hackensack, Newark, New Brunswick, and Morristown.