New Jersey Senate voted to Offer Family Leave Insurance to New Jersey workers, as it may be good for employees and in the long term it may turn to be good for businesses as well. Earlier New Jersey Labor Commissioner testifies before New Jersey Assembly Committee On Legislation to Offer Family Leave Insurance to New Jersey Workers.
New Jersey Labor Commissioner David J. Socolow testified before the New Jersey Assembly, Labor Committee on A-873, legislation proposing Family Leave Insurance in New Jersey.
Commissioner Socolow described the proposed Family Leave Insurance (FLI) program, which would provide partial wage replacement to workers who need to take leave from work to care for a seriously ill family member or to bond with a newborn or newly-adopted child. Socolow testified that the pending legislation, modeled after the successful program that has been in effect in California since 2004, will help workers appropriately use the family leave time guaranteed by already-existing federal and state statutes, or negotiated with their employers, without having to fall behind on their mortgages, utilities and other basic financial necessities of life.
“Balancing the demands and pressures of family life and the workplace is a daily struggle for New Jersey’s working families, this measure would allow a modest financial benefit to workers so they can afford the time to care for family members who are unable to care for themselves,” Socolow stated.
Commissioner Socolow also explained that the legislation creates no new mandates on businesses. He told the Committee, “A-873 is a benefits bill, not a leave bill. No new mandates regarding employer leave policies are included in this bill. An employer can establish exactly the same workplace policies regarding family leave, regardless of whether a paid insurance benefit is made available for workers taking such leave. Simply stated, small businesses with fewer than 50 employees will retain the right they have today, under state and federal law, to decline to hold open a job for an employee who goes on leave to care for a family member.”
Source: New Jersey Labor Department
Comment and add to the story without registration, but keep the comments meaningful please. Links are not accepted.
