The New Jersey Family Leave Act (FLA) applies to all public and private-sector employers with 50 or more employees (the FLA does not require those 50 or more to be employed within a 75 mile radius of the employee seeking leave, nor do they need to be in the state of New Jersey).
An FLA-eligible employee is one who has worked 1,000 hours or more (including overtime) during the preceding 12 months. Hours for which the employee was paid workers compensation benefits may be included in the 1,000 hours to establish eligibility. At the employer’s option, other types of paid leave may also be counted toward FLA eligibility.
Eligible employees may take family leave for up to 12 weeks within any 24-month period, provided the employee makes a reasonable effort to schedule the leave so as to not unduly disrupt the employer’s operation. Public employees may use a voluntary furlough of up to 30 work days for FLA or FMLA purposes. The furlough may not be applied to sick or unpaid disability leave, but may be used for parenting or family care, and a 60-day furlough extension is available for education or family care needs.