New Jersey Paid Leave: FLI Benefits, NJFLA Job Protection, and How to Apply

New Jersey paid family leave, officially called Family Leave Insurance (FLI), pays eligible workers 85% of their average weekly wage — up to $1,119 per week in 2026 — for as long as 12 weeks while they bond with a new child or care for a seriously ill family member. The program is funded entirely by employee payroll deductions and administered by the state Division of Temporary Disability and Family Leave Insurance. One thing to understand up front: FLI is a cash benefit only. Whether your job is held open while you’re out depends on a separate law, the New Jersey Family Leave Act (NJFLA).

Who Qualifies for FLI

Eligibility turns on your recent earnings. For claims filed in 2026, you need to have earned at least $310 per week during 20 or more base weeks, or a combined total of at least $15,500 across the four quarters that make up your base year.¹ The base year generally covers the first four of the last five completed calendar quarters before your claim, so the state is looking at roughly 18 months of wage history. If you hold more than one job, earnings across all of them count toward the threshold.

Most private-sector workers and state employees are covered automatically. Local government employees are only covered if their employer opts into the program. Self-employed workers are not covered unless they arrange voluntary participation through the state.

You pay for the program through a payroll deduction. In 2026, the contribution rate is 0.23% of the first $171,100 you earn, capped at $393.53 for the year.¹ Employers do not contribute.

What You Can Take Leave For

FLI covers two situations: bonding with a new child and caring for a seriously ill family member.

Bonding leave is available any time within the first 12 months after a child’s birth, adoption, or foster care placement.² Both parents can file their own claims independently.

Caregiving leave covers time spent helping a family member with a serious physical or mental health condition. The definition of family member is broader than many people assume. It includes a spouse, domestic partner, parent, child, sibling, grandparent, grandchild, parent-in-law, anyone related by blood or marriage, and anyone you can show has a relationship equivalent to family.³ That last category can include a close friend who functions as family, though you may be asked to document the relationship.

How Much You Get and for How Long

FLI replaces 85% of your average weekly wage, calculated from your base-year earnings, up to the 2026 maximum of $1,119 per week. There is no waiting period; benefits run from your first day of approved leave.⁴

How much time you can take depends on whether you use it in one stretch or break it up:

Watch the switch between the two. If you start a continuous leave and then return to work partway through, the state treats the remainder as intermittent and caps what’s left at the 56-day limit.² Plan the schedule before you file if you can.

FLI Pays You; the NJFLA Protects Your Job

This is where most of the confusion with New Jersey’s paid family leave sits. Family Leave Insurance writes you a check while you’re out. It does not require your employer to hold your position. Job protection comes from a separate statute, the New Jersey Family Leave Act. If you qualify under both, you get paid and your job is protected. If you only qualify for FLI, you get the money with no legal guarantee of returning to the same role.

NJFLA Coverage as of July 17, 2026

Amendments to the NJFLA taking effect on July 17, 2026, broaden job-protected leave significantly.⁵ Two thresholds change at once:

Private employers with 15 or more employees are now covered, down from 30. State and local government agencies of any size remain covered.⁵
You now need just three months of employment and 250 hours worked in the past 12 months, down from 12 months and 1,000 hours.⁵

The NJFLA provides up to 12 weeks of job-protected leave in a 24-month period. When you return, you are generally entitled to the same position you held before leave, or an equivalent one. The federal Family and Medical Leave Act may apply on top if your employer has 50 or more employees; FMLA leave runs concurrently with NJFLA leave when both cover the same time off.

The employer-size threshold keeps dropping. It falls to 10 employees in July 2027 and to 5 employees in July 2028. If your current employer is too small to be covered now, your eligibility may arrive on one of those dates.

Notice and Filing Deadlines

How much notice you owe your employer depends on the kind of leave:

Continuous bonding or caregiving leave: at least 30 days’ notice before leave starts.
Intermittent bonding leave: at least 15 days’ notice before each period of leave.
Intermittent caregiving leave: at least 15 days’ notice.

If you don’t give adequate notice, your benefit entitlement can be reduced by 14 days.⁶ That’s a serious amount of pay to lose over a missed heads-up.

You then have 30 days from your first day of leave to file your actual claim with the state.⁶ Filing late can cost you benefits for days you were already out, so submit as close to your leave start date as you can.

How to Apply

Before you start the application, gather:

Your Social Security number
Contact details for every employer you worked for in the six months before your leave
Bank account and routing numbers if you want direct deposit
For bonding claims: proof of the child’s birth (birth certificate or hospital discharge papers), or documentation from an adoption or foster agency
For caregiving claims: a medical certification from the family member’s provider stating the diagnosis, when the condition began, and how long care is expected to be needed

The fastest route is the state’s online portal at myleavebenefits.nj.gov, which lets you upload documents and track your claim in real time.⁶ A paper application is also available to download, print, and mail or fax to the Division.⁷

Processing typically takes two to four weeks. Once approved, payments go out every two weeks. If you don’t set up direct deposit, the state issues a prepaid debit card.

If Your Employer Uses a Private Plan

Some employers provide family leave benefits through an approved private insurance plan instead of the state fund. These plans must meet or exceed the state plan’s benefits, eligibility rules, and coverage, and they cannot charge workers more than the state contribution rate.¹ If your employer uses a private plan, file through that carrier rather than the state portal. HR can tell you which applies to you.

Taxes on Your Benefits

FLI benefits are subject to federal income tax. The state issues a Form 1099-G reporting the total paid to you during the calendar year, which you can download from your myleavebenefits.nj.gov account. Benefits are taxable in the year the payments are issued, not the year the leave occurred. If you file in December but the money arrives in January, those benefits land on the following year’s return.⁸

The state does not withhold federal tax from FLI payments automatically. Set money aside or adjust your withholding at work so the bill doesn’t come as a surprise.

1
State of New Jersey. Division of Temporary Disability and Family Leave Insurance – Information for Employers
2
State of New Jersey. Division of Temporary Disability and Family Leave Insurance – Expanded Maternity and Bonding Benefits Are Here
3
New Jersey Office of the Attorney General. New Jersey Family Leave Act Frequently Asked Questions
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State of New Jersey. Division of Temporary Disability and Family Leave Insurance – FAQ: Family Leave Insurance
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New Jersey Office of the Attorney General. New Jersey Family Leave Act (NJFLA)
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State of New Jersey. Division of Temporary Disability and Family Leave Insurance – Family Leave Insurance
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State of New Jersey. Division of Temporary Disability and Family Leave Insurance – Print an Application
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State of New Jersey. Division of Temporary Disability and Family Leave Insurance – Do You Need to Download a 1099-G?