The New Jersey SDI tax is a payroll deduction that funds two state wage-replacement programs: Temporary Disability Insurance (TDI) and Family Leave Insurance (FLI). For 2026, employees pay 0.19% of wages toward TDI and 0.23% toward FLI, on earnings up to $171,100. The most you can pay across both in 2026 is $718.62.1Department of Labor & Workforce Development. Rate Information, Contributions, and Due Dates
How Much Comes Out of Your Paycheck in 2026
The math is a flat percentage of gross wages until you hit the annual cap:
- TDI: 0.19% of wages up to $171,100, maxing out at $325.09 for the year
- FLI: 0.23% of wages up to $171,100, maxing out at $393.53 for the year
Once your year-to-date earnings reach $171,100, no further TDI or FLI is deducted from your remaining paychecks.2Department of Labor & Workforce Development. NJ Department of Labor and Workforce Development Announces New Benefit Rates for 2026
If you earn less than the cap, just multiply. Someone making $60,000 pays $114 in TDI (0.19% × $60,000) and $138 in FLI (0.23% × $60,000), or $252 total for the year. Your employer handles the deduction each pay period.
Both the rates and the wage base are recalculated every year, so the numbers shift each January.
Who Pays It
Most W-2 employees in New Jersey have both TDI and FLI withheld. Independent contractors and self-employed workers are not covered and cannot opt in voluntarily.3Official Site of The State of New Jersey. When You’re Sick, Injured, or Post-Surgery Federal government employees, workers employed by churches or religious organizations, and ordained ministers performing duties required by their religious order are also excluded.
To actually qualify for benefits when you need them, you must have earned at least $310 per week for 20 or more weeks during your base year, or a combined total of at least $15,500 across the four quarters of your base year. The base year is the first four of the five completed calendar quarters before your claim starts.4Division of Temporary Disability and Family Leave Insurance. FAQ: Temporary Disability Insurance
Employers pay into TDI on a separate, experience-rated basis, with new employers defaulting to 0.50% on a $44,800 wage base per employee.1Department of Labor & Workforce Development. Rate Information, Contributions, and Due Dates FLI is funded entirely by employee deductions; employers contribute nothing to that program.5State of New Jersey – Division of Temporary Disability and Family Leave Insurance. Information for Employers
What TDI Covers
TDI replaces part of your wages when you cannot work because of an illness, injury, or pregnancy that is not job-related. Work-related conditions go through workers’ compensation instead.
For 2026, TDI pays 85% of your average weekly wage, up to a maximum weekly benefit of $1,119. Benefits can last up to 26 weeks within a 12-month period.2Department of Labor & Workforce Development. NJ Department of Labor and Workforce Development Announces New Benefit Rates for 2026 A seven-day waiting period applies before payments begin. If your leave reaches at least 22 consecutive days, the state pays that first week retroactively.6Division of Temporary Disability and Family Leave Insurance. The Waiting Week for Temporary Disability, Explained
What FLI Covers
FLI replaces wages while you take time off for qualifying family reasons. The 2026 benefit is calculated the same way as TDI: 85% of your average weekly wage, up to $1,119 per week.7NJ.gov. Family Leave Insurance
Qualifying reasons include:
- Bonding with a new child during the first 12 months after a birth, adoption, or foster placement
- Caring for a seriously ill spouse, domestic partner, civil union partner, parent, child, sibling, grandparent, grandchild, parent-in-law, or any other person with a close relationship equivalent to family
- Time off related to domestic or sexual violence affecting you or a loved one, including medical care, legal services, safety planning, or court proceedings8Division of Temporary Disability and Family Leave Insurance. Keeping NJ Safe
FLI lasts up to 12 consecutive weeks in a 12-month period, or up to 56 individual days (eight weeks) if you take the leave intermittently.9Division of Temporary Disability and Family Leave Insurance. FAQ: Family Leave Insurance FLI has no waiting week.
Checking Your Pay Stub and Recovering Overpayments
Your pay stub should list TDI and FLI as separate line items, often labeled “NJ DI,” “DI,” or “FLI.” Employers must furnish a statement of deductions each pay period.10NJ.gov. Chapter 173, Laws of New Jersey, 1965 – Relating to Payment of Wages On your year-end W-2, both amounts typically appear in Box 14 under “DI” and “FLI.”
If you worked for two or more New Jersey employers in the same year and your combined wages topped $171,100, you almost certainly had too much withheld. Each employer applies the cap independently and has no way to coordinate with the others. To recover the excess, file Form NJ-2450 with your New Jersey income tax return. You have two years after the end of the calendar year in which the excess was deducted to file the claim, or the refund is forfeited.11Legal Information Institute (Cornell Law School). New Jersey Admin Code 18:35-4.2 – Credit for Excess Contributions
Anyone holding two jobs or changing employers mid-year should run the numbers. Add up your total New Jersey wages for the year, compare to $171,100, and if you’re over, file the form.
One Note on Private Plans
New Jersey employers can opt out of the state fund by running an approved private disability plan through an insurance carrier, a union agreement, or self-insurance, as long as the plan matches the state benefits in weekly amount and duration.12Justia Law. New Jersey Revised Statutes Title 43 Section 43-21-32 – Establishment of Private Plans If your employer uses a private plan, your deduction rate may differ, but it cannot exceed the state rate without your prior approval.