This bill amends the Family Leave Act to gradually extend job protection rights to employees of smaller employers, reducing the employee threshold from 30 to five over a two-year period. Initially, the threshold will decrease to 20 employees upon the bill's effective date, then to 10 employees one year later, and finally to five employees two years after the effective date. Once fully implemented, employees of employers with five or more employees will be entitled to 12 weeks of job-protected leave, whether paid or unpaid, and will have the right to be reinstated to their position after taking family temporary disability leave benefits or unpaid family leave.

Additionally, the bill clarifies that employees eligible for both earned sick leave and temporary disability benefits or family temporary disability leave benefits can choose which type of leave to use and the order in which they take them, but cannot receive more than one type of paid leave simultaneously. The bill also ensures that the reinstatement rights currently available to temporary disability insurance recipients are extended to family leave recipients, thereby providing broader protections for workers in smaller businesses.

Statutes affected:
Introduced: 34:11B-3, 43:21-55.2