The threshold just dropped – is your New Jersey company suddenly covered?
New Jersey law lowers employer threshold for family leave, extending protections to workers at companies with as few as 15 employees.
New Jersey has enacted legislation that dramatically expands who gets job-protected family leave in the state, a change that will require mid-sized employers to meet new compliance obligations starting this summer.
The law, signed by the governor on January 17, 2026, cuts in half the number of employees a company needs before family leave protections apply. Beginning six months after enactment, any New Jersey employer with 15 or more workers will fall under the state's Family Leave Act, down from the current 30-employee threshold that has been in place since mid-2019.
The measure was sponsored by Assemblywomen Annette Quijano and Verlina Reynolds-Jackson, Assemblyman Craig J. Coughlin, and Senators Paul D. Moriarty and Andrew Zwicker. Assemblywomen Garnet R. Hall and Tennille R. McCoy, along with Senator Angela V. McKnight, served as co-sponsors.
That shift extends leave protections to workers at businesses that have operated outside the law's reach, bringing a new population of employers into the regulatory fold.
The law also makes it easier for individual employees to qualify for protected leave. Right now, workers need six months on the job and 500 hours of work in the prior 12 months. Under the new rules, employees will need just three months of employment and 250...
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