Beginning July 1, 2009, New Jersey law will provide up to six (6) weeks of Family Leave Insurance (FLI) benefits in order to:
- Bond with a child during the first 12 months after the child’s birth or adoption:
- Employees must provide the University with thirty (30) days written notice prior to the beginning of leave
- Employees already on NJ Temporary Disability due to pregnancy disability are not subject to the waiting week if application for FLI is filed immediately upon recovery; however, employees with sufficient earned leave time must charge two weeks of earned vacation, personal or comp time upon recovery before being eligible for FLI
- Intermittent FLI is not permissible unless taken in periods of 7 days or more
- Care for a family member with a serious health condition:
- Employees must provide the University with reasonable notice
- If intermittent FLI is requested, employees must provide 15 days written notice to the University
This program is being administered by the New Jersey Department of Labor & Workforce Development (LWD) and is intended to be a monetary benefit and not a leave entitlement and, therefore, does not provide for job protection.* A claimant can receive a maximum of six weeks of FLI benefits in a twelve month period, which can be paid on a consecutive or intermittent basis. The weekly benefit is two-thirds of the average weekly wage up to a maximum of $546. for claims beginning 7/1/09. Please refer to the LWD fact sheet for further information on wage requirements and benefit amounts.
Please be aware that no benefits can be paid for the first seven days (waiting week) until benefits have been paid in each of the three weeks immediately following the waiting week. Therefore, employees who take less than four weeks of FLI would not be paid for the waiting week.
In keeping with a directive issued by the NJ Civil Service Commission, employees with sufficient earned leave time must charge two weeks of earned sick, vacation, personal or comp time. This time will be included as part of the six weeks of maximum leave entitlement. Employees who do not have two weeks of earned leave time must exhaust whatever earned time is available before being eligible for FLI.
An Application for Family Leave Insurance Benefits must be filed promptly after you stop working. The completed and signed application form must be submitted to the Office of Payroll & Benefits so that required salary information can be provided on the application before being forwarded to LWD in Trenton for processing.
*Job protection is provided under both the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and New Jersey Family Leave Act (NJFLA). If the employee is eligible for either or both FMLA and NJFLA, FLI will run concurrently with appropriate leave entitlement under these Acts.
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