Just two months into New Jersey’s 2026 legislative session, state lawmakers are developing a slate of bills that could have major implications for employers, including new employment protections related to pregnancy and breastfeeding, in addition to expanding family and sick leave and expanding protections under the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination (NJLAD).
Quick Hits
- New Jersey lawmakers are currently considering several bills that could have major implications for employers.
- Key recommendations include the creation of paid maternity leave, expansion of pregnancy-related disability benefits, and amendments to ensure that paid leave applies to workers bound by amended collective bargaining agreements.
Here is a summary of some of the important job regulations being considered.
Protection of Employment Related to Pregnancy
Assembly Bill (A) 113-Relief concerns for miscarriage and stillbirth
This bill would amend New Jersey’s Family Leave Law to include “death of a child or miscarriage or stillbirth” in the definition of job-protected “family leave.” The bill would also change the definition of “family leave” to include “grieving time.” The bill would allow workers to verify vacation days with a “stat[ing] the day of death, miscarriage, or stillbirth.” The bill was introduced on January 13, 2026.
A4358-Expansion of temporary disability related to pregnancy
Under current law, workers are entitled to be paid temporary disability benefits within four weeks before their expected date and six weeks after their date of deployment. This bill will expand maternity leave benefits from the current six weeks to eight weeks. The bill was introduced on March 19, 2026.
A440-Establishes the New Jersey Paid Personal Leave Act
This bill would require all New Jersey employers to provide each employee with up to twenty hours of paid maternity leave (not to be confused with “paternity” leave) each year, to be used during the employee’s pregnancy for pregnancy-related health care, including physical exams, medical procedures, testing and evaluations. Employees would be allowed to take vacation days in one-hour increments, paid at their regular rate of pay. It is unclear what documents employers will be allowed to request to substantiate the need for maternity leave, if any, as the bill provides that employers “shall not require the disclosure of confidential information related to a mental or physical illness, injury or condition as a condition of providing paid maternity leave.” Employers will not be required to pay employees for unused maternity leave after separation. The bill was introduced on January 13, 2026.
A4704 / S2689—Accommodation for Lactating Workers
This bill would amend the NJLAD to make it illegal for an employer to fail to accommodate a nursing employee by providing a reasonable accommodation as long as the “employer wishes,” meaning how long the employee wishes to reduce. These accommodations may include adequate paid time off based on the standard rate of work compensation, work reorganization, and modified work schedules for the purpose of milk production. The bill also specifies that the place that the employer must provide to the employee to serve milk must be a suitable room “that is not accessible to other employees or customers of the employer’s business, if necessary; without a toilet.” (Emphasis added.) Finally, the bill would add “breastfeeding” as a protected condition under the NJLAD’s equal pay provisions. A4704 / S2689 was introduced on March 16, 2026.
Leaves of absence
Senate Bill (S) 3510– Clarifying the New Jersey Sick Leave Law (ESLL)
Created in 2018, ESLL provides most employees with up to forty hours of paid sick leave per year. The ESLL does not apply to employees “performing services in the construction industry” covered by collective bargaining agreements (CBAs) that are in effect when the law goes into effect until that CBA expires. S3510 will ensure that the provisions of the ESLL apply to employees subject to amended CBAs when those CBAs are amended. The bill was introduced on March 12, 2026.
Amendments to NJLAD
A4563 / S1631– Determination of height and weight
This bill would amend the NJLAD to expressly prohibit discrimination “because of the height or weight of any person.” Exceptions include situations in which the height and weight requirements are “appropriate work experience[s],” which generally refers to the need for an employee to be a certain height or weight because it is necessary for the business to run smoothly or for the employee to do the job safely and efficiently.” A4563/S1631 was introduced on January 13, 2026, and passed by the New Jersey Senate on February 24, 2026.
A4487 / S3779– Discrimination based on menstruation, menopause and menopause
This bill would amend the NJLAD to make it unlawful in employment for employers to discriminate against employees because of menstruation, menopause, or menopause, if the symptoms of such conditions “significantly interfere with” the employee’s ability “to perform one or more duties.” The bill was introduced in the House on March 24, 2026, and in the Senate on March 5, 2026.
A2041– “New Jersey Intern Protection Act”
This bill seeks to provide legal protections and remedies for schoolchildren by adding them to the list of persons protected by the NJLAD and the Essential Employee Protection Act (CEPA), which provides whistleblower protections to employees. The bill will provide job protection and allow them to bring actions against employers. The bill was introduced on January 13, 2026.
A767-Benefits of women’s health and contraception
This bill would make it illegal for employers under the NJLAD to exclude health insurance coverage for the purchase of “female contraceptives.” The bill includes exceptions for a “religious employer[s],” defined as churches, church organizations and church-sponsored elementary or secondary schools, if purchasing female contraceptives is against their “honest religious beliefs and practices.” The bill was introduced on January 13, 2026.
A4194-Public Health Emergencies and States of Emergency
The bill would make it illegal for employers to require employees who are parents or guardians of a school-aged child (K-12) to “attend the workplace, when that work can be performed remotely, during a public health emergency and a state of emergency declared by the Governor,” unless the employer can demonstrate that it would be an “undue hardship” to its business operations. There can be a “rebuttable presumption” that an employee can telecommute if the employee has already worked remotely for a minimum period of twice the salary or fortnight. That assumption can be countered with “overwhelming evidence that the employee cannot perform essential tasks remotely.” The bill was introduced on March 19, 2026.
Wage and Hour
A4639 / S2105– Prohibition of payment training agreements
The bill would prohibit employers from requiring employees and prospective employees to enter into a “training payment agreement” as a condition of employment and render such agreements void and unenforceable. Such an agreement generally requires employees to reimburse the employer, training provider, or other third party for the cost of providing training to the employee. The bill would not include deductions, payments for equipment purchased or leased by an employee, contracts for educational leave, and reimbursement training agreements made as part of a collective bargaining agreement. This bill was introduced in the New Jersey Senate on January 13, 2026, and in the General Assembly on March 10, 2026.
Employment Law
S3604-Challenges to the Domestic Workers Bill of Rights (DWBR)
This bill would amend the DWBR, which was enacted in 2024, to clarify that certain licensed or licensed home health care workers and nursing staff are not intended to be treated as “home workers” under the DWBR. The bill would not include the definition of “employer entity” under the DWBR, home care service organizations, including health service firms, and licensed hospice programs with respect to services performed by licensed personnel. The bill was introduced on March 19, 2026.
A4414– Job presentation
This bill would exempt employers from civil liability when an employer in good faith discloses to a prospective employer “information contained in the employee’s file, including but not limited to” title, qualifications, compensation, length of employment, attendance records, occupational hazards, and, if applicable, the reason for separation. Employers who disclose such information “shall be presumed to be in good faith unless it is shown by clear and convincing evidence that the employer acted with actual malice toward the employee or former employee.” The bill was introduced on March 19, 2026.
Next Steps
The New Jersey legislative session began on January 13, 2026, and continues until December 31, 2026. At this time, most of the bills above are still in the preliminary stages, and it is unclear whether, if at all, they will pass. However, the bills highlight the challenges of the state legislature and potential employers’ compliance obligations. Employers may want to focus their attention on the progress of these and other debts.
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