Are my employees entitled to earned sick leave or family leave?
Earned Sick Leave Act
As of October 29, 2018, there is no minimum number of employees that an employer must have in order for its employees to be entitled to earned sick leave under the Earned Sick Leave Law. The Earned Sick Leave Law makes no distinction for coverage between part-time or seasonal employees and full-time employees.
For every 30 hours worked, the employee shall accrue one hour of earned sick leave. The employer is not required to permit the employee to accrue more than 40 hours of earned sick leave in any benefit year. An employee is entitled to accrue one hour of earned sick leave for every 30 hours worked, regardless of whether those 30 hours are worked during a single workweek or over the course of 6 multiple workweeks. Thus, under the example cited above, the employee who worked 10 hours one week and 20 hours the next would accrue one hour of earned sick leave.
Family Leave Act
Under the New Jersey Family Leave Act, certain employees are entitled to take leave without losing their jobs as long as the following conditions are met. The employer must have at least 50 employees who have been working for at least 20 weeks during the current or previous year. When counting the number of employees, all of the employer’s employees, whether located in New Jersey or not, are included. The employee who wants to take leave must have worked for that employer for one year and must have worked at least 1,000 hours, including paid overtime hours, during the 12 months immediately prior to taking the leave
The New Jersey Family Leave Act permits leave to be taken for the care of a newly born or adopted child, as long as leave begins within one year of the date the child is born to or placed with the employee or, the care of a parent, child under 18, spouse, or civil union partner who has a serious health condition requiring in-patient care, continuing medical treatment or medical supervision. The Family Leave Act considers parents to be: in-laws, step-parents, foster parents, adoptive parents or others having a parent-child relationship with an employee.
Each eligible employee may take up to 12 weeks of continuous leave during a given 24-month period. When caring for a family member with a serious health condition, an employee may take leave that is not continuous, for example, an intermittent leave or a reduced work schedule. Sometimes an employer’s approval is necessary for this type of arrangement if the leave is taken in connection with the birth or adoption of a child.
An employer is entitled to require the employee to give 30 days’ notice for leave related to the birth or adoption of a child. In the case of relative’s serious health condition, 15 days’ notice may be required. If an emergency arises, reasonable notice must still be given, within the confines of the circumstances.
