December 25, 2025
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The New Jersey Senate approved a bill extending paid family leave benefits to workers at companies with as few as 15 employees. Business groups opposed the measure.
Senate lawmakers approved legislation that would expand family leave and temporary disability benefits to workers at smaller companies in a party-line vote Monday.
The legislation, approved in a 24-12 vote, would allow workers at firms with as few as 15 employees to take job-protected paid family leave.
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"This bill would ensure that the vast majority of New Jersey workers are entitled to family leave protections, whether they work for a huge corporation or a small business," said bill sponsor Sen. Paul Moriarty (D-Gloucester).
Existing New Jersey law permits workers to take up to 12 weeks of paid family leave to bond with new children or care for a sick or injured loved one. Workers on family leave can earn up to 85% of their weekly pay, to a cap of $1,081 per week in 2025, or $1,119 in 2026.
To be eligible under current law, an employee must have worked at a given employer for at least 12 months and have worked at least 1,000 hours in the preceding 12 months.
The bill would halve both those qualifications, requiring workers to be with their employer for at least six months and cutting the hours requirement to 500.
"It's time we close the gap and guarantee that those working at smaller businesses, which more frequently include low-wage, part-time, and caregiving workers, have the same protections as those working at larger companies," said bill sponsor Sen. Andrew Zwicker (D-Middlesex).
The benefits are funded by a 0.28% payroll tax on worker income, to a wage cap of $138,200.
Existing law bars employers from retaliating against workers for using family leave benefits. Text added by the bill would clarify that workers are entitled to be restored to their previous position or one with equivalent pay, benefits, and seniority upon returning from family leave.
It would also explicitly allow workers to use family leave, temporary disability benefits, and earned sick leave in the order of their choosing.
Business groups had opposed the bill, warning that expanding family leave eligibility could make New Jersey small businesses less competitive.
Chris Emigholz, chief government affairs officer for the New Jersey Business and Industry Association, in a letter to Senators last week noted only seven states offered job protections to workers at firms with as few as 15 employees.
"In other words, New Jersey would be placing its smallest employers into a narrow national category — an outlier beyond most states we directly compete with for jobs and investment," he said in the letter.
The Assembly earlier this year approved a version of the bill that would extend the benefits to workers at businesses with as few as five employees.
Lawmakers in both chambers on Monday approved in bipartisan votes legislation that would require retailers to phase out the sale of certain intoxicating hemp products ahead of new federal regulations that become effective next November.
The new regulations, approved as part of the spending bill that ended the federal government shutdown last month, would ban hemp products with a total THC concentration of more than 0.4%. THC is the main psychoactive chemical in marijuana.
The state measure, which awaits the governor's signature, would allow New Jersey retailers to continue selling products that would be barred by the bill or federal regulations until April 13, 2026.
After that date, intoxicating hemp beverages would be limited to no more than 5 milligrams of THC per serving, or 10 milligrams per container, and other hemp products would be limited to a 0.3% THC concentration.
It would also impose a $3.75-per-gallon excise tax on the wholesale sale of intoxicating hemp beverages, effective April 13.
The movement comes more than a year after Gov. Phil Murphy signed legislation that criminalized the sale of intoxicating hemp products to people below the age of 21.
"By acting now, we can close gaps in oversight, reduce confusion for businesses and regulators, and ensure these products are safe, transparent, and kept out of the hands of children, protecting New Jersey families and public health," said bill sponsor Teresa Ruiz (D-Newark).
New Jersey Monitor is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. New Jersey Monitor maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Terrence T. McDonald for questions: info@newjerseymonitor.com.
