New Jersey Assembly Speaker Vincent Prieto announced new legislation seeking to expand New Jersey’s paid family leave program.
The law currently allows an employee to take six weeks off from work at two-thirds of their pay.
The bill would expand leave time, calls for higher compensation and allows more family members to take time off to care for a new child or sick relative.
“We’re expanding who is in the definition of family,” Prieto says. “We’re including grandparents, grandchildren, siblings, and parent-in-laws, to be able to help people that are sick or have a newborn.”
The program is funded through employee payroll deductions that are capped at $33 per year.
Lawmakers say that the family leave fund is underused.