New Jersey Administrative Code › Title 13 - LAW AND PUBLIC SAFETY › Chapter 14 - RULES PERTAINING TO THE FAMILY LEAVE ACT › Subchapter 1 - GENERAL PROVISIONS › Section 13:14-1.2 - Definitions

Current through Register Vol. 56, No. 14, July 15, 2024
The following words and terms, when used in this chapter, shall have the following meanings, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.
"Act" means the "Family Leave Act," N.J.S.A. 34:11B-1et seq., unless the context indicates otherwise.
"Base Hours" means the hours of work for which an employee receives compensation. Base hours shall include overtime hours for which the employee is paid additional or overtime compensation, and hours for which the employee receives workers' compensation benefits. Base hours shall also include hours an employee would have worked except for having been in military service. At the option of the employer, base hours may include hours for which the employee receives other types of compensation, such as administrative, personal leave, vacation, or sick leave.
"Base salary" as used in section 4h(1) of the Act means the salary paid to an employee, excluding overtime, bonuses, etc., but not excluding salary withheld for State, Federal, and local taxes, FICA, employee contributions to any pension, health and/or insurance plans or programs, etc.
"Care" means, but is not limited to, physical care, emotional support, visitation, assistance in treatment, transportation, arranging for a change in care, assistance with essential daily living matters and personal attendant services.
"Child," for the purpose of determining whether an employee is eligible for family leave because of such employee's parental status, means a child as defined in the Act to whom such employee is a biological parent, adoptive parent, foster parent, parent pursuant to a valid written agreement between the parent and a gestational carrier, resource family parent, step-parent, parent-in-law, or legal guardian, or has a "parent-child relationship" as defined at N.J.S.A. 34:11B-3, or has sole or joint legal or physical custody, care, guardianship, or visitation.
"Closure of a school or place of care," for the purpose of determining whether an employee is eligible for family leave to provide in-home care or treatment to a child due to the closure of the school or place of care of the child of the employee, by order of a public official due to an epidemic or other public health emergency, includes, but is not limited to, periods of time when in-home care or treatment of the child are required because the order by a public official results in the school or place of care being closed to the child of the employee to in-person instruction or care during specific times of the day or days of the week, but does not include when the child of an employee may attend the school or place of care, but the employee chooses to provide in-home care or treatment of the child.
"Consecutive leave" means leave that is taken without interruption based upon an employee's regular work schedule, and does not include breaks in employment in which an employee is not regularly scheduled to work. (For example, when an employee is normally scheduled to work from September through June and is not scheduled to work during July and August, a leave taken continuously during May, June and September shall be considered a consecutive leave.)
"Disrupt unduly the operations of the employer," as used in sections 4j and 5b of the Act, means an intermittent or reduced leave schedule that, if implemented, would cause the employer measurable harm, economic or otherwise, significantly greater than any measurable harm that would befall the employer if the same employee was granted a consecutive leave. The burden of proof in these instances rests with the employer. Whether the intermittent or reduced leave schedule would disrupt unduly the operations of the employer will be determined by the Division on a case-by-case basis. There is a presumption that an intermittent or reduced leave schedule for an employee taking leave to provide care for a family member who has been diagnosed with a communicable disease or is suspected of having a communicable disease would disrupt unduly the operations of the employer. This presumption does not apply to an employee who does not come into contact with other people while working or an employee who can work remotely while taking the leave.
"Eligible employee" means any individual employed by the same employer for 12 months or more, who has worked 1,000 or more base hours during the preceding 12-month period. Any time, up to a maximum of 90 calendar days, during which a person is laid off or furloughed by an employer due to that employer curtailing operations because of a state of emergency shall be regarded as time in which the person is employed for the purpose of determining eligibility for leave time under the Act. In making the determination, the base hours per week during the layoff or furlough shall be deemed to be the same as the average number of hours worked per week during the rest of the 12-month period. An employee is considered to be employed in the State of New Jersey if:
1. Such employee works in New Jersey; or
2. Such employee routinely performs some work in New Jersey and the employee's base of operations or the place from which such work is directed and controlled is in New Jersey.
"Employer" means an employer as defined in the Act, which employs 30 or more employees, whether employed in New Jersey or not, for each working day during each of 20 or more calendar workweeks in the then-current or immediately preceding calendar year. "Employer" also includes the State, any political subdivision thereof, and all public offices, agencies, boards, or bodies, regardless of the number of employees.
"Employer" means an employer as defined in the Act, which employs 30 or more employees, whether employed in New Jersey or not, for each working day during each of 20 or more calendar workweeks in the then-current or immediately preceding calendar year. "Employer" also includes the State, any political subdivision thereof, and all public offices, agencies, boards, or bodies, regardless of the number of employees.
"Family leave" means leave from employment, so that the employee may provide care made necessary by reason of:
1. The birth of a child of the employee, including a child born pursuant to a valid written agreement between the employee and a gestational carrier;
2. The placement of a child into foster care with the employee or in connection with adoption of a child by the employee;
3. The serious health condition of a family member of the employee; or
4. In the event of a state of emergency declared by the Governor, or when indicated to be needed by the Commissioner of Health or other public health authority, an epidemic of a communicable disease, a known or suspected exposure to the communicable disease, or efforts to prevent spread of a communicable disease that:
i. Requires in-home care or treatment of a child due to the closure of the school or place of care of the child of the employee, by order of a public official due to the epidemic or other public health emergency;
ii. Prompts the issuance by a public health authority of a determination, including by mandatory quarantine, requiring or imposing responsive or prophylactic measures as a result of illness caused by an epidemic of a communicable disease, or known or suspected exposure to the communicable disease because the presence in the community of a family member in need of care by the employee would jeopardize the health of others; or
iii. Results in the recommendation of a health care provider or public health authority, that a family member in need of care by the employee voluntarily undergoes self-quarantine as a result of suspected exposure to a communicable disease because the presence in the community of that family member in need of care by the employee would jeopardize the health of others.
"Family member" means a child, parent, parent-in-law, sibling, grandparent, grandchild, spouse, domestic partner or partner in a civil union, any other individual related by blood or marriage to the employee, or any other individual that the employee shows to have a close association with the employee, which is the equivalent of a family relationship.
"Health care provider" means a duly licensed health care provider or any other health care provider deemed appropriate by the Director of the Division on Civil Rights, including, but not limited to, any person licensed under Federal, state, or local law, or the laws of a foreign nation, to provide health care services.
"Health insurance policy" means all health benefits provided by an employer to an employee. Health benefits include the opportunity provided by an employer to participate in a group health plan.
"Intermittent leave" means leave due to a single qualifying reason (the serious health condition of a specific family member; the birth or placement of a child with the employee for adoption or foster care; or the provision of care to a family member made necessary by an epidemic of a communicable disease, a known or suspected exposure to a communicable disease, or efforts to prevent spread of a communicable disease), taken in separate periods of time, rather than one continuous period, and may be scheduled in increments of hours, days, or weeks.
"Parent" means a person who is the biological parent, adoptive parent, foster parent, resource family parent, step-parent, parent-in-law, or legal guardian; a person who became a parent pursuant to a valid written agreement with a gestational carrier; a person who has a "parent-child relationship" with a child as defined at N.J.S.A. 34:11B-3; or a person who has sole or joint legal or physical custody, care, guardianship, or visitation with a child.
"Reduced leave schedule" means leave due to a single qualifying reason (the serious health condition of a specific family member; the birth or placement of a child with the employee for adoption or foster care; or the provision of care to a family member made necessary by an epidemic of a communicable disease, a known or suspected exposure to a communicable disease, or efforts to prevent the spread of a communicable disease), that is scheduled for fewer than an employee's usual number of hours worked per workweek, but not for fewer than an employee's usual number of hours worked per workday, unless agreed to by the employee and the employer.
"Serious health condition" means an illness, injury, impairment, or physical or mental condition which requires:
1. Inpatient care in a hospital, hospice, or residential medical care facility; or
2. Continuing medical treatment or continuing supervision by a health care provider. As used in this definition, "continuing medical treatment or continuing supervision by a health care provider" means:
As used in this definition, "continuing medical treatment or continuing supervision by a health care provider" means:
1. A period of incapacity (that is, inability to work, attend school or perform regular daily activities due to a serious health condition, treatment therefore and recovery therefrom) of more than three consecutive days, and any subsequent treatment or period of incapacity relating to the same condition, that also involves:
i. Treatment two or more times by a health care provider; or
ii. Treatment by a health care provider on one occasion which results in a regimen of continuing treatment under the supervision of a health care provider;
2. Any period of incapacity due to pregnancy, or for prenatal care;
3. Any period of incapacity or treatment for such incapacity due to a chronic serious health condition;
4. A period of incapacity, which is permanent or long term, due to a condition for which treatment may not be effective (such as Alzheimer's disease, a severe stroke, or the terminal stages of a disease) where the individual is under continuing supervision of, but need not be receiving active treatment by, a health care provider; or
5. Any period of absence to receive multiple treatments (including any period of recovery therefrom) by a health care provider or by a provider of health care services under orders of, or on referral by a health care provider, either for restorative surgery after an accident or other injury, or for a condition that would likely result in a period of incapacity of more than three consecutive calendar days in the absence of medical intervention or treatment, such as cancer (chemotherapy, radiation, etc.), severe arthritis (physical therapy), or kidney disease (dialysis).
"Spouse" means a person to whom an employee is lawfully married as defined by New Jersey law.
"State of emergency" means a natural or man-made disaster or emergency for which a state of emergency has been declared by the President of the United States or the Governor, or for which a state of emergency has been declared by a municipal emergency management coordinator.
"Substantial and grievous economic injury" as used in section 4h(2) of the Act means economic harm that will befall an employer which is of such a magnitude that it would substantially and adversely affect the employer's operations, considerably beyond the costs which are associated with replacing an employee who has requested family leave.
"Workweek" means the number of days that an employee normally works each calendar week, irrespective of the number of hours worked each day. (For purposes of a reduced leave, an employee who normally works five days each calendar week is entitled to a maximum of 60 days of family leave. An employee who normally works four days each calendar week is entitled to a maximum of 48 days of family leave).