How Much Does Short-Term Disability Pay in NJ?

New Jersey short-term disability pays 85% of your average weekly wage, up to a maximum of $1,119 per week for disabilities beginning in 2026, for as long as 26 weeks.¹² The program, called Temporary Disability Insurance, replaces part of your paycheck when a non-work-related illness, injury, or medical condition keeps you off the job.

How Your Weekly Payment Is Calculated

The state uses a “base year” to figure your average weekly wage. That’s the first four of the last five completed calendar quarters before the week your disability started. Total earnings during the base year are divided by the number of “base weeks” you worked. In 2026, a base week is any week you earned at least $310.¹ Your weekly benefit is 85% of the resulting average.³

A quick example. Say your base year earnings totaled $36,000 across 48 base weeks. Your average weekly wage would be $750, and your weekly benefit would be $637.50. Someone with a higher average gets a proportionally higher check, but no one goes above the yearly cap.

The 2026 Maximum Weekly Benefit

For disabilities starting in 2026, the ceiling is $1,119 per week.¹ Even if 85% of your average weekly wage works out higher, that’s what you get. To hit the cap, you’d need an average weekly wage of roughly $1,317 or more during your base year.

The maximum is set each year at 70% of the statewide average weekly wage, so it climbs over time as wages rise across New Jersey.³

How Long Payments Last

Benefits run for a maximum of 26 weeks in a single period of disability.² Your healthcare provider certifies how long you need, and the state pays for that period up to the cap. Recover and go back to work, and payments stop. If a completely unrelated condition disables you later, a fresh 26-week period can begin.

Payments don’t start on day one. There’s a seven-day waiting period, so your first payment covers the eighth day of disability onward. If your disability runs 22 consecutive days or longer, the state pays those first seven days retroactively.

Pregnancy and Postpartum Payments

Pregnancy is one of the most common reasons New Jersey workers file for TDI. Benefits are typically payable for up to four weeks before your expected delivery date and six weeks after a vaginal delivery, or eight weeks after a cesarean section.⁴ If your doctor certifies complications that push you past those windows, payments can continue longer, still subject to the 26-week overall maximum.

Once your doctor clears you to return to work after delivery, TDI ends. New Jersey’s separate Family Leave Insurance program then offers up to 12 weeks of bonding benefits at the same 85% wage-replacement rate.⁵ Stacked, the two programs can cover a long stretch of paid leave for new parents.

What You Pay Into the Program

TDI is funded partly through payroll deductions. In 2026, employees contribute 0.19% of the first $171,100 in covered wages, a maximum annual contribution of $325.09.⁶ The deduction comes out of your paycheck automatically. Someone earning $50,000 pays about $95 for the year.

Taxes on Your Benefit Checks

TDI benefits are subject to federal income tax but exempt from New Jersey state income tax. Federal taxes aren’t automatically withheld unless you ask for it when you file or submit IRS Form W-4S.² If you skip withholding, set money aside for the federal bill.

FICA (Social Security and Medicare) taxes come out of state plan benefit payments automatically.² Federal law does treat these payments differently after six calendar months have passed since the employee last worked, at which point payments are no longer “wages” for FICA purposes.⁷ Because NJ TDI caps at 26 weeks, that rule only matters if your disability began well after your last day of work. Your employer reports the taxable portion of your benefits on your W-2, usually as “third party sick pay” or “other wages.”

Who Can Collect

To draw TDI, you have to be unable to do your job because of a non-work-related medical condition, and you must be under the care of a healthcare provider.⁸ Injuries or illnesses that happen on the job go through workers’ compensation instead.

You also need to meet one of two earnings thresholds during your base year:

At least 20 weeks earning $310 or more per week in 2026, or
Total base-year earnings of at least $15,500.

Both thresholds rose slightly from 2025’s $303 per week and $15,200 total.¹ You must see a medical provider within 10 days of the date you first became disabled.⁸

Most New Jersey employers use the state-run plan, but some cover their workers through an approved private insurer. Private plans must offer benefits at least as generous as the state plan on weekly amount, eligibility, and duration.² If your employer uses a private plan, you file with that insurer.

TDI Pays Wages, Not Job Protection

One thing TDI doesn’t do: hold your job for you. It replaces income while you’re out, but job protection comes from separate laws. The federal Family and Medical Leave Act, if you qualify, requires your employer to restore you to the same position or an equivalent one when you return, and provides up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave per year.⁹ You can collect TDI during FMLA leave. The Americans with Disabilities Act may also require unpaid leave as a reasonable accommodation, which can matter for workers at smaller employers not covered by FMLA.¹⁰

1
Department of Labor & Workforce Development. New Benefit Rates for 2026
2
State of New Jersey. When You’re Sick, Injured, or Post-Surgery
3
Department of Labor & Workforce Development. Temporary Disability and Family Leave Insurance – Section: Weekly Benefit Amount
4
Division of Temporary Disability and Family Leave Insurance. Maternity Timeline
5
New Jersey Office of the Attorney General. New Jersey Family Leave Act Frequently Asked Questions
6
Division of Temporary Disability and Family Leave Insurance. Information for Employers – Section: How Benefits Are Calculated
7
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 3121 – Definitions
8
Department of Labor & Workforce Development. FAQ: Temporary Disability Insurance
9
eCFR. 29 CFR 825.214 Employee Right to Reinstatement
10
U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Employer-Provided Leave and the Americans with Disabilities Act