New Jersey HR Laws for Small Employers (2026)

New Jersey at a glance

Pay range in job posts: Required since June 1, 2025 at 10 or more employees over 20 calendar weeks, counting staff inside and outside New Jersey. Posts must show the pay or pay range, a general description of benefits, and other compensation such as bonuses or commissions.
New-hire reporting: Within 20 days of the hire or rehire date, to the New Jersey New Hire Reporting Center.
Paid sick leave: All employers, any size: 1 hour per 30 hours worked, up to 40 hours a year. Usable from the 120th day of employment. No payout required at separation.
Paid family and medical leave: Family Leave Insurance pays 85% of average weekly wages, up to $1,119 a week in 2026, for up to 12 weeks (or 56 separate days). Temporary Disability Insurance covers the employee's own illness. Both are funded by payroll deductions and both are job-protected.
Final pay when you end employment: By the regular payday for the pay period in which employment ended. Mail it if the employee asks.
Final pay when they quit: Same rule: by the regular payday for the pay period in which employment ended.
Unused vacation at exit: No New Jersey law requires payout. Follow your written policy or agreement: the state does enforce vacation pay you have promised.

Hiring in New Jersey

Pay and benefits in job posts. New Jersey's pay transparency law (P.L. 2024, chapter 91) took effect June 1, 2025. It covers employers with 10 or more employees over 20 calendar weeks that do business, employ people or take applications in New Jersey. The 10 count includes employees outside New Jersey. Every posting for a new job or transfer must show the hourly wage or salary (or a range with a start and an end point), a general description of benefits, and other compensation programs such as commissions, bonuses or profit sharing. The rule reaches job sites, print ads, newsletters, email and social media. You must also make reasonable efforts to tell current employees in affected departments about promotion opportunities. Penalties are up to $300 for a first violation and $600 for each later one. See pay transparency in job posts.

What to give a new hire in New Jersey
Notice	When
Rate of pay and regular payday	At hire, and before any change
Form MW-400 (employer recordkeeping and reporting obligations)	At hire
Earned sick leave notice of rights	At hire
Temporary Disability and Family Leave Insurance notice	At hire, on request, and when leave is needed

New-hire reporting. Report each new or rehired employee within 20 days of the hire date to the New Jersey New Hire Reporting Center, online, by mail or by fax. See new-hire reporting.

Criminal history questions. The Opportunity to Compete Act applies to employers with 15 or more employees over 20 calendar weeks. You cannot ask about criminal records, on an application or out loud, until after the first interview. Exceptions exist, for example when a law requires a background check for the role or the applicant volunteers the information. See background checks.

Leave in New Jersey

Earned sick leave. Every employer, whatever its size, must give full-time, part-time, seasonal and temporary employees 1 hour of sick leave for every 30 hours worked, up to 40 hours per benefit year. You choose a fixed 12-month benefit year, or you can front-load all 40 hours at the start of it and skip the tracking. Employees can carry over up to 40 hours, but you only have to let them use 40 hours a year. New hires can start using leave on the 120th calendar day of employment. Leave covers the employee's or a family member's illness and care, preventive care, domestic or sexual violence, public health closures, and school meetings the school asks a parent to attend. You do not have to pay out unused sick leave at separation, but if you rehire someone within 6 months, you must restore their balance.

New Jersey state leave insurance, 2026
Program	What it covers	Length	Pay
Temporary Disability Insurance (TDI)	Employee's own illness, injury, surgery recovery or pregnancy	Up to 26 weeks	85% of average weekly wage, up to $1,119 a week
Family Leave Insurance (FLI)	Bonding with a new child, caring for a seriously ill family member, domestic or sexual violence	Up to 12 weeks in a row, or 56 separate days, in 12 months	85% of average weekly wage, up to $1,119 a week

In 2026 employees pay 0.19% (TDI) and 0.23% (FLI) of the first $171,100 in wages. Employers pay 0.10% to 0.75% of the first $44,800 per employee for TDI and nothing for FLI. To qualify in 2026, a worker needs 20 weeks earning at least $310 a week, or $15,500 in total in the base year.

Job protection got broader on July 17, 2026. The New Jersey Family Leave Act (NJFLA) now covers employers with 15 or more employees (counted worldwide) for each working day in 20 or more weeks of this or last calendar year, down from 30. Employees qualify after 3 months and 250 hours worked in the past 12 months. They can take up to 12 weeks in 24 months to bond with a new child or care for a family member with a serious health condition, and generally return to the same job. The same change gave job protection to workers on TDI or FLI benefits who are not already covered by the NJFLA or federal FMLA, with no minimum employer size. See how to handle an FMLA request and paid family leave by state.

Final pay and ending employment

Ending employment in New Jersey
What	Deadline or rule	Source
Final pay, fired or laid off	By the regular payday for the pay period in which employment ended	N.J.S.A. 34:11-4.3
Final pay, quit	Same rule; mail it if the employee asks	N.J.S.A. 34:11-4.3
Form BC-10, Instructions for Claiming Unemployment Benefits	Give to every employee separated for 7 days or more	NJ Department of Labor
Unused vacation	Per your written policy or agreement	NJ Department of Labor
Unused sick leave	No payout required	Earned Sick Leave Law

Layoffs. New Jersey's WARN law (the Millville Dallas Airmotive Plant Job Loss Notification Act) applies to employers with 100 or more employees, with part-time staff counted since the April 10, 2023 changes. When 50 or more employees at or reporting to an establishment lose their jobs within 30 days, through a mass layoff, closing or transfer, you must give at least 90 days' notice and pay severance of 1 week for each full year of service. If you give less than 90 days' notice, each affected employee gets 4 more weeks of pay. See WARN Act layoffs and severance agreements.

Health coverage: federal COBRA starts at 20 employees. New Jersey adds its own continuation right for small group health plans, which reaches employers with 1 to 50 employees, with the same continuation periods as COBRA and a premium of up to 102%. See when you need to offer COBRA.

Other things to know

Minimum wage: $15.92 an hour for most employers since January 1, 2026. Seasonal, agricultural and tipped workers have different rates.
Overtime: time and a half over 40 hours a week. Salaried employees can be exempt only if they meet the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) tests for executive, administrative or professional employees. See overtime rules.
Paydays: pay at least twice a month on regular paydays set in advance. Executive and supervisory employees may be paid monthly.
Discrimination: the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination covers employers of every size.
Workers' compensation: required for every New Jersey employer, from the first employee. See workers' compensation requirements.
Posters: display the state wage and hour, wage payment, earned sick leave and gender equity notices. See labor law posters.

Common questions

Does New Jersey earned sick leave apply to a company with 3 employees?

Yes. The law covers employers of all sizes. Employees earn 1 hour for every 30 hours worked, up to 40 hours a year, and can start using it on their 120th day.

Do employees outside New Jersey count toward the 10-employee pay transparency threshold?

Yes. The state counts all employees, inside and outside New Jersey, as long as the employer does business, employs people or takes applications in New Jersey.

Is family leave job-protected at a small New Jersey company?

Since July 17, 2026, the New Jersey Family Leave Act applies at 15 or more employees. Workers on state Temporary Disability or Family Leave Insurance benefits are also job-protected even when neither the state act nor federal FMLA covers them.

Does a New Jersey layoff require severance?

For covered layoffs, yes. Employers with 100 or more employees must pay 1 week of severance per full year of service when 50 or more employees lose their jobs, plus 4 more weeks if they gave less than 90 days' notice.

How MambaHR handles this

MambaHR keeps your New Jersey employee records and hiring pipeline, and posts jobs with pay ranges. Leave requests are approved within your policy, with federal FMLA eligibility checked and New Jersey's disability and family leave insurance cited for a person to decide how they combine. When someone leaves, it works out final pay under New Jersey's rules for a person to approve, and layoffs are planned with legal checks while people make the decisions.

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Sources

Last reviewed October 2, 2026. This page is general information, not legal advice. Laws change and exceptions apply, so check the sources above or an employment lawyer before you act on a specific case.