A 3451 New Jersey General Assembly · 2024-2025 Regular Session

Revises law concerning family leave to extend protection by reducing employee threshold from 30 employees to 15 employees in definition of employer.*

This bill phases in smaller employer coverage under New Jersey's family leave law by reducing the employee threshold from 30 to 5 employees over two years. Starting immediately, employers with 20+ employees must follow the law; one year later, the threshold drops to 10 employees; and after two years, all employers with 5+ employees must provide reinstatement rights after family leave. It directly affects workers at small businesses (5-20 employees) who previously had no legal right to return to their jobs after taking family leave. The law ensures these employees cannot be retaliated against for taking leave, aligning small business coverage with existing protections for larger employers.
Bill status passed both 4 of 5 stages cleared
Introduction
Feb 2024
Committee Review
Dec 2025
General Assembly Passage
Jan 2026
Senate Passage
Jan 2026
Governor
Introduced Feb 1, 2024 Last action Jan 12, 2026
Floor votes · Senate Dec 22, 2025 · General Assembly Feb 12, 2024

How they voted

2412
Passed · 4 other
Total votes 40
Dec 22, 2025
D Democratic25
24 Yea 1
96% Yea
R Republican15
12 Nay 3
80% Nay
Vote distribution
All Yea All Nay Mixed No data
Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions
13
Key actions
6
Committee
5
Jan 12, 2026
Upper · Passed
Passed Senate (Passed Both Houses) (31-7)
upper
Jan 12, 2026
Lower · Passed
Concurred by Assembly Amendments (46-25-0) (Quijano)
lower
Dec 22, 2025
Upper · Passed
Passed Senate (24-12)
upper
Dec 15, 2025
Upper · Passed
Reported out of Senate Committee with Amendments, 2nd Reading
upper
Dec 11, 2025
Committee
Transferred to Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee
upper
Feb 12, 2024
Committee
Received in the Senate, Referred to Senate Labor Committee
upper
Feb 12, 2024
Lower · Passed
Passed Assembly (49-26-2)
lower
Feb 8, 2024
Lower · Passed
Reported out of Assembly Committee, 2nd Reading
lower
Feb 5, 2024
Committee
Reported and Referred to Assembly Appropriations Committee
lower
Feb 1, 2024
Introduced
Introduced in the Assembly, Referred to Assembly Labor Committee
lower
5 primary · 3 co-sponsors

Sponsors