New Jersey Content Updated to Reflect Changes to Employee Eligibility for Leave and Benefits

Authors: Melissa Burdorf and Tracy Morley, XpertHR Legal Editors

Effective January 21, 2014, amendments to the New Jersey Family Leave Act and the New Jersey Security and Financial Empowerment Act have established new eligibility criteria. Under the amended laws, when employers look at whether an employee worked the requisite number of hours to be eligible for either leave, they must consider the time an employee is laid off or furloughed as time worked, up to a maximum of 90 days, when the separation is due to a reduction of business operations during a state of emergency, declared after October 22, 2012.

The amended laws also provide that any such employee will be able to use up to 13 weeks as base weeks when determining if he or she meets the eligibility requirements for unemployment, temporary disability and family leave insurance benefits.

To reflect this new development, the following sections of the Employment Law Manual have been updated: