Rutgers’ Center for Women and Work report highlights 1.7 million NJ workers without job security under New Jersey Family Leave Act

TRENTON, NJ: A recent update to a study conducted by the Rutgers’ Center for Women and Work reveals that 1.7 million New Jersey workers lack job protection coverage under the NJ Family Leave Act (NJFLA) when they need to take leave to bond with new children or care for loved ones.

The lack of job protection and the fear of job loss have made access to New Jersey’s paid family leave program, Family Leave Insurance (FLI), out of reach for these workers. Despite all New Jersey workers paying into the program with each paycheck, the Family Leave Insurance program remains underutilized.

Dr. Rebecca Logue-Conroy, Research Analyst at the Center for Women and Work, Rutgers University, stated, “In our new report, we examined more closely which workers’ jobs would not be protected because they worked for less than a year, changed jobs in the last year, or have worked fewer than 1,000 hours. We found that 27% of workers remain unprotected, and these workers are most likely to be women, low-income, and those working in healthcare support, education, instruction and library, and food preparation and serving related occupations.”

Currently, New Jersey employees’ jobs are protected when taking leave for a covered reason if they work for a firm with 30 or more employees, have worked at that employer for at least 12 months, and have worked at least 1,000 hours in the previous year. However, legislation proposed earlier this year, bill A3451/S2950, only addresses the employer size and not the duration or hours worked requirements for job protection coverage under the NJFLA.

The Rutgers Center for Women and Work’s report highlights that an estimated 1.15 million New Jersey workers lack job protections under the NJFLA due to not meeting the duration or hours worked requirements, regardless of the firm size or employer.

To address this, the NJ Time to Care Coalition and other organizations urge New Jersey’s legislators to pass policy solutions informed by research. They also call for amendments to bill A3451/S2950 to expand job-protected family leave for New Jersey workers at employers with at least 5 employees and after at least 90 days of employment. This would ensure that workers who contribute to the state’s family leave insurance program can access their benefits without fearing job loss when caring for their loved ones or bonding with their new children.

NJ Citizen Action’s Work Justice Program Director and convener of the NJ Time to Care Coalition, Yarrow Willman-Cole said, “We can’t wait to get this right, it has been 15 years since New Jersey implemented paid family leave, it’s time we make our programs and laws make sense so that more workers can access their benefit and take the time they need without risking their job. The report shows that lower income workers and women are disproportionately left out when needing to take paid family leave. We cannot ignore workers paid leave stories, the data, and the inequities that will persist if we continue to pass partial policy solutions that do not help New Jersey workers who deserve time to bond with their new children and be at the bedside of their sick or dying loved ones.”

“When my second daughter was born, I had only been at my job for five months and so I was not eligible for job protection, and I had to return to work after just six weeks of leave. The lack of appropriate and reasonable paid time off was a major factor that contributed to my experiencing postpartum depression, said Ediza Lahoz Valentino, a mother and social worker, sharing her personal experience.

“As a social worker who works with new and expecting parents, I share with my clients how paid leave can help support their mental, emotional and physical health. But not if they are forced to choose between caring for their loved ones and risking their jobs. Not having job protection, or confusion around the complicated layers of eligibility only creates additional hardship, as well as stress and worry,” Valentino added.

“Paid family leave can improve public health and reduce stress when patients need to focus on recovering and improving their own health. Patients are more likely to heal and recover faster if they have the support they need at home. Those patients are less likely to be readmitted to the hospital, which not only saves money, but greatly improves their recovery rate so they can return to their daily routine and to their workplace,” said Barbara Rosen, RN, HPAE First Vice President. Paid family leave programs should be equitable and accessible to all workers when they need it – especially for our professional caregivers, who give so much in providing healthcare services and caring for our loved ones in their times of need.”

Anthony Sandkamp owner of small NJ business Sandkamp Woodworks, LLC and member of Main Street Alliance member said, “New Jersey’s paid family leave program is beneficial for both workers and businesses. It helps businesses retain employees, who are often highly skilled and trained, which reduces turnover costs. As a small business owner that relies on my workers to run my business efficiently, I value them as humans who may need to take time away from work to care for new babies and/or sick loved ones without fearing job loss. Paid leave without job security is basically a severance package and it doesn’t work. The Legislature must ensure that workers can access job protected paid leave when they need it.”

We believe as a union that every workforce regardless of size should have access to the same benefits.  The Family Leave Act protects state and local government workers of any size. However, some of our members are prevented from taking their paid family leave benefit, despite contributing to the program with each paycheck, because they have switched jobs within the year or because they have not yet worked 1,000 hours, said Michele Liebtag, Political & Education Director, CWA Local 1036. “We are asking the Legislature to close this loophole and act on what the research is telling us.  Amend A3451/S2950 to ensure that workers have the right to return to work after taking paid family leave.”

“The Legislature should work with the New Jersey Time to Care Coalition to pass evidence-backed policy that truly solves the problem. To do so, the Senate should pass S2950, and the Assembly should amend A3451 through reconciliation, with our recommended strengthening amendments to provide greater clarity, accessibility, and equity to paid leave in New Jersey and bring us in line with other states with a paid leave program,” Willman-Cole added.

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New Jersey Citizen Action is a statewide coalition and grassroots membership organization that fights for social, racial, and economic justice for all.

The New Jersey Time to Care Coalition works to improve programs and policies to ensure that all working families have paid time to care.