What paid family and sick leave does New Jersey require in 2026?

The assumption that catches out-of-state employers is the 50-employee rule. Federal FMLA hits at 50 employees, but New Jersey FLI, TDI and earned sick leave apply from your first New Jersey hire. A three-person Newark team carries the same FLI and TDI payroll deductions and the same sick-leave accrual as a 3,000-person enterprise. New Jersey state income tax and unemployment insurance runs on the same payroll alongside these contributions.

The benefit is paid directly by the New Jersey Division of Temporary Disability and Family Leave Insurance, so your payroll runs unchanged through the leave. Employees can take the 12 weeks continuously, or spread them out intermittently in smaller blocks, which suits a phased return after a birth or a recurring caregiving need.

FLI replaces wages; it does not by itself protect the job. Job protection comes from the federal FMLA and the New Jersey Family Leave Act, each of which has its own employer-size and eligibility tests. A worker can qualify for FLI wage replacement before, or without, qualifying for statutory job protection, and you track both clocks. For how job protection works at termination, see New Jersey termination law and at-will exceptions.

TDI is the disability half of New Jersey's state-plan leave, and FLI is the family half. A pregnancy is the clearest example of how they stack: an employee typically draws TDI for the medical recovery period around the birth, then moves onto FLI to bond with the child. The two run back to back, not at the same time.

The two TDI wage bases trip up payroll teams new to the state. The employee deduction of 0.19% runs against the higher $171,100 base, while the employer rate of 0.1% to 0.75% runs against the lower $44,800 base. Get the two bases the wrong way round and the contribution is wrong on every paycheque. The maximum worker TDI deduction for the year is $325.09. New York's paid family leave programme runs a similar back-to-back structure; see New York paid family and sick leave for comparison.

Covered uses are broad: an employee's own illness or that of a family member, time for a medical appointment, time related to domestic or sexual violence, and time to attend a child's school-related event. New Jersey's family definition reaches well beyond the federal one, so the same hours cover a wider set of caregiving situations. Connecticut and New York both run comparable statewide earned sick leave rules; see Connecticut paid family and sick leave for how the accrual rates compare.

Up to 40 unused hours carry over to the next benefit year, though an employer can still cap use at 40 hours per year. A national policy that accrues less than 1 hour per 30 worked is short on every New Jersey payroll, and unlike many states the rule applies statewide with no local-ordinance patchwork to reconcile. Review your New Jersey wage and overtime obligations alongside the sick leave rules, as both apply from the first hire.

Where both apply, run them concurrently: the FLI or TDI claim funds the wages while FMLA (and the New Jersey Family Leave Act) preserves the role. FMLA adds up to 26 weeks of military caregiver leave on top. The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (EEOC) requires reasonable accommodation at any employer with 15 or more employees, separate from any leave entitlement. For the termination and job-protection side, see New Jersey termination law and at-will exceptions.

What that looks like, day to day: a leave concierge files the state claim with the New Jersey Division of Temporary Disability and Family Leave Insurance and sequences the 26-week TDI clock into the 12-week FLI clock for a pregnancy; the sick-leave ledger accrues 1 hour per 30 worked and caps at 40 hours; and the 0.23% FLI and 0.19% TDI employee deductions are withheld on the right wage base on the same run.

There is no setup fee and no exit fee, and statutory employer cost passes through at cost, itemised on every invoice. Contractor onboarding, EOR payroll and entity graduation all live on one platform: a New Jersey contractor who converts to W-2 keeps their record, and that same employee can graduate to your own US entity without switching systems. Use the New Jersey employer cost calculator to see the full cost before you hire, or the Crossover Calculator to see the month the model flips. EOR is the right model for a first New Jersey hire, until it isn't.