NJFLA expansion: 15 employees, 3-month eligibility as of July 17, 2026.
Governor Murphy signed Assembly Bill 3451 on January 16, 2026, enacting the most significant amendment to the New Jersey Family Leave Act in years. Effective July 17, 2026, NJFLA coverage drops from 30 to 15 employees worldwide, employee eligibility drops from 12 months/1,000 hours to 3 months/250 hours, and TDI/FLI recipients gain job-restoration rights. The threshold continues to drop in subsequent years (10 employees July 2027, 5 employees July 2028). For small NJ employers, this is a coverage event; for multi-state employers, it dramatically expands the population of NJFLA-protected workers.
NJFLA Coverage + Job Restoration
Tracks 15-employee threshold (worldwide). Validates 3-month/250-hour eligibility. Grants job restoration to TDI/FLI recipients. Manages ESL/FLI/TDI sequencing per worker election.
What those rules do at hire, at leave, and at return.
The hero card configuration: Flag on coverage threshold, Critical on job restoration obligation.
Coverage threshold counts all worldwide employees, not just NJ-based. Crossing 15 (or 10 in 2027, 5 in 2028) triggers NJFLA coverage. Multi-state employers with small NJ footprints can be covered if total worldwide headcount is high.
Workers receiving TDI or FLI benefits at covered employers must be reinstated to the same or equivalent position upon return. Failure to restore is a job-protection violation with damages plus attorney fees plus possible reinstatement order.
Deploy NJ NJFLA expansion compliance in your Teambridge.
Tell us about your New Jersey workforce. We'll spin up 15-employee threshold tracking, 3-month/250-hour eligibility, TDI/FLI job restoration, and 21 other NJ policies in a sandbox tenant.
Lower threshold, faster eligibility, and TDI/FLI job restoration.
The 2026 NJFLA expansion is structurally most significant for small employers (newly covered) and TDI/FLI recipients (newly job-protected) — but operationally consequential for any covered NJ employer.
Coverage threshold drop
Effective July 17, 2026, NJFLA covers employers with 15 or more employees worldwide (previously 30). Coverage further expands: 10 employees in July 2027, 5 employees in July 2028. Headcount is measured 'for each working day during each of 20 or more calendar workweeks in the then current or immediately preceding calendar year' — meaning a NJ-only branch of a 50-employee parent has been covered all along (worldwide headcount controls).
Eligibility threshold drop
Employee eligibility drops dramatically: from 12 months of employment to 3 months, and from 1,000 hours worked to 250 hours in the immediately preceding 12-month period. Part-time and recently-hired workers who would not have qualified under the prior standard now qualify.
Teambridge tracks the 15-employee threshold, eligibility math, and job-restoration obligation.
The July 17, 2026 effective date plus the multi-year threshold drop schedule create ongoing operational changes through 2028.
20-workweek average maintained.
Worldwide employee count is calculated based on the 20-workweek average rule. The threshold (15/10/5) is checked annually and on hiring transitions.
Eligibility recalculated at each leave request.
When a worker requests leave, the new eligibility test (3 months of employment + 250 hours in preceding 12 months) is applied. Workers who would not have qualified under the prior standard now qualify.
Reinstatement workflow at return.
Workers returning from TDI or FLI at covered employers are flagged for job restoration. The same or equivalent position, with equivalent pay/benefits/working conditions, must be available. Position elimination during leave triggers documented equivalent-position analysis.
Worker selects order at leave start.
Workers select the sequence of ESL and FLI/TDI use at leave start. Concurrent use is blocked. Employers cannot mandate the sequence.
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