Effects of State Law on Your Leave

All covered employers must provide a certain period of leave to eligible employees for family and medical reasons, as per the US Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). Apart from this federal ruling, the employees of New Jersey are within the protection of the state specific family related medical leave act as well.

If you have any questions pertaining to the New Jersey Family Leave Act (NJFLA), you need to get in touch with a capable labor lawyer. Here are a few details regarding the act and its legal directives.


Which employers are within the coverage of this act? If your employer has 50 employees (anywhere in the world), it implies that they are within he coverage of this act. Therefore, they must provide all eligible employees with family and medical leave. Governmental agencies and schools are also within coverage.

How do you know whether you are eligible for leave? Entitlement for this leave requires two specific conditions -

First criterion - You are working as an employee, for the particular employer, for a minimum period of 12 months. Second criterion - You must have worked, for the employer, for minimum 1,000 working hours within the preceding 12-month period.

Does NJFLA differ from FMLA in any way? The basic tenet of both legal directives is the same - eligible employees, working for employers within the coverage of these laws, may get a 12-week leave on certain grounds. However, the laws have a few minor differences. Here are the details.

1) While FMLA provides leave for the employee's own disability, NJFLA provides leave only for -immediate family' related medical grounds, i.e. the serious illness of a spouse, child or parent, or the birth or adoption of a child.

2) FMLA considers your biological parents (apart from your spouse and children) as -immediate family'. On the other hand, NJFLA considers adoptive parent, resource family parent, stepparent, and parent-in-law and legal guardian within this definition.

3) While FMLA provides the employees with a 12-week leave in the preceding 12-month period, NJFLA provides this in the preceding 24-month period.

If you have any queries regarding the federal or state laws, or which one applies to your specific circumstance, it is necessary for you to find a qualified and experienced New Jersey labor lawyer.

You would also need the advice and representation of a capable labor lawyer if your employer does not grant you this leave, or takes any retaliatory action, which is unlawful, because you take this leave.

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