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Leave of Absence
Leave of Absence and Maternity Leave under the Federal Family and Medical Leave Act
Under the Federal Family and Medical leave Act; an employee may take a leave of absence with or without pay for the birth of a child or the placement of a child for adoption, or for foster care. In such cases the leave must be taken within one year of the birth or placement. Leave may also be taken to care for a child, spouse or parent with a serious health condition or the employee's own serious illness. The employee is entitled to take a leave for up to 12 weeks in a 12-month period. This leave may be taken at a reduced or intermittent schedule with the approval of the departmental supervisor. To qualify, the employee must have worked for 12 months and at least 1250 hours preceding the FMLA leave.
The Pregnancy portion of Maternity leave is covered under the Federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). Please note that the Federal FMLA covers an employee's serious illness but the New Jersey Family Leave Act does not do so. The FMLA usually covers the time period during the 4 weeks before and 6 weeks after the birth of the baby, (8 weeks for cesarean section).
Leave of Absence and Maternity Leave under the New Jersey Family Leave Act
The New Jersey State Family Leave Act permits an employee to take leaves of absence with or without pay in connection with the birth or adoption of a child or a serious illness of a child, spouse, or parent for up to 12 weeks in a 24-month period. Such leave may be taken on a reduced or intermittent schedule. To qualify, the employee must be employed for at least 12 months or more, and must have worked not less than 1,000 hours during the last 12-month period.
The Child Care portion of Maternity leave is covered under the New Jersey Family Leave Act. Under the NJ FLA, a new parent is allowed to take 12 weeks of paid or unpaid leave to care for the newborn child.
Determination: FMLA/NJFLA Concurrent or Cumulative
A leave of absence used under New Jersey Family Leave (NJFLA) and the Federal Family Leave Act (FMLA) runs concurrently except in one circumstance: where an eligible employee requests leave first due to his or her own serious health condition and second due to the birth or adoption of a child or to care for a seriously ill dependent child, spouse or parent. In this circumstance, the employee is entitled to use his or her Federal FMLA leave for the first request and retains his or her NJFLA leave to cover the second event.
Application of Earned Leave Time
An employee who is approved for leave under the Family Leave Acts can use accrued sick, vacation, energy, administrative leave or unpaid leave.
An employee on medical leave who uses all of their available sick leave may qualify for the New Jersey State Temporary Disability Insurance Program or The College's Donated Leave Program.
How to apply
To apply for the State Family Leave Act or Federal Family and Medical Leave Act you need to apply in writing to your supervisor and send the completed:
- FMLA form and/or
- NJ FLA form
to the Office of Human Resources.
You can also contact the Office of Human Resources at extension 3306 for more details regarding these acts.
Health Benefits
Employees participating in the State Health Benefits Program are entitled to continued health coverage under the Act(s) while they are on family leave. This includes all health care benefits as well as prescription drug, and dental insurance. Please note that an employee with a required payroll deduction for health coverage will be responsible to make this payment to The College.
Pension
Service and salary credit for pension purposes are earned in the state retirement systems while in pay status only. For periods where leave is taken on an intermittent or reduced schedule basis, an employee may be able to obtain pension credit depending upon the compensation received during the coverage periods involved. Members under the Alternate Benefit Program must receive at least 50% percent of their base salary to make contributions to their account.
Members of Public Employees Retirement System, Teachers Pension Annuity Fund and Police and Fire Pension System may purchase service credit for up to three months for a family leave. The Alternate Benefits Program does not have such a provision.
Life Insurance
The employee's group life insurance coverage will continue up to 93 days while on an official family leave. In this case contributions are required to continue coverage under the contributory plan.
