On this page
- Who the New Jersey Earned Sick Leave Law Covers
- How Employees Earn Sick Leave Under New Jersey Law
- Carryover and Payout Rules for Unused Sick Leave
- Reasons Employees Can Use New Jersey Earned Sick Leave
- Notice, Documentation and Blackout Date Rules for Employers
- Using a PTO Policy to Meet the New Jersey Earned Sick Leave Law
- Required Poster, Written Notice and Recordkeeping
- Penalties and Retaliation Protections
- How Earned Sick Leave Works With Family Leave Insurance and Disability Benefits
- New Jersey Earned Sick Leave Compliance Checklist for Employers
- Frequently Asked Questions
The New Jersey Earned Sick Leave law requires almost every employer in the state to give employees up to 40 hours of paid sick leave each year. It doesn't matter if you have 2 employees or 200. Full-time, part-time, seasonal and temporary workers are all covered.
The law took effect on October 29, 2018, and the rules haven't changed much since. What has changed is the money around it: a higher minimum wage in 2026, new state leave insurance rates, and new job protections for workers on state leave benefits. This guide covers everything a small business owner needs to set up a compliant policy and track it correctly in 2026.
Key Takeaways
- New Jersey employers of every size must provide up to 40 hours of paid sick leave per benefit year.
- Employees earn 1 hour of sick leave for every 30 hours worked, or you can front-load 40 hours at the start of each benefit year.
- New hires start earning leave on day one, but you can make them wait until their 120th calendar day to use it.
- Up to 40 unused hours carry over to the next year, but you only have to let employees use 40 hours in any benefit year.
- You don't have to pay out unused sick leave when an employee leaves, unless your own policy or a union contract says you will.
- You must display the state poster, give each employee a written copy of the notice, and keep sick leave records for 5 years.
What's New for 2026
Sick pay can never be less than the state minimum wage, which is $15.92 an hour for most employers in 2026 ($15.23 for seasonal employers and employers with fewer than 6 employees). The minimum wage for most employers rises to $16.48 an hour on January 1, 2027.
Starting July 17, 2026, employees who collect state Family Leave Insurance or Temporary Disability Insurance benefits have job protection while they're out, no matter how small your business is. The New Jersey Family Leave Act also now covers employers with 15 or more employees.
Who the New Jersey Earned Sick Leave Law Covers
The law applies to any business, nonprofit or school that employs people in New Jersey. There's no minimum number of employees, so a business with one employee is covered too. Out-of-state companies are covered for the people who work in New Jersey.
Almost every employee is covered, however they're paid (hourly, salary, commission, piece rate or cash). That includes:
- Full-time, part-time, seasonal and temporary employees.
- Supervisors and managers, including salaried employees who are exempt from overtime.
- Remote employees who work from New Jersey, and employees who routinely work in New Jersey and are based there.
- Domestic workers, and employees of any immigration status.
Only a few groups are left out of the law:
- Construction workers covered by a union contract (a collective bargaining agreement).
- Per diem health care employees.
- Public employees who already get full-pay sick leave under another New Jersey law.
- Independent contractors who are properly classified under New Jersey's strict ABC test.
WATCH OUT
Calling someone a contractor doesn't make them one. If a worker fails New Jersey's ABC test, they're an employee who has been earning sick leave all along, and misclassification brings its own penalties. See our guide on how to classify employees if you're unsure.
If you use a temp agency, the agency is the employer for sick leave purposes. Temp workers earn leave based on all the hours they work through the agency, across every client.
How Employees Earn Sick Leave Under New Jersey Law
You can give employees their sick leave in one of two ways. You can also use one method for some employees and the other for the rest (for example, front-load full-time staff and use accrual for part-time staff).
| Rule | Accrual method | Front-loading method |
|---|---|---|
| How leave is given | 1 hour for every 30 hours worked | At least 40 hours on the first day of the benefit year |
| Yearly cap you can set | 40 hours earned per benefit year | 40 hours per benefit year |
| Need to track hours for accrual | Yes | No (if you give the full 40 hours) |
| Year-end payout option | You may offer it; the employee picks a full or 50% payout | You may pay out unused hours in full instead of carrying them over |
| Best fit | Part-time and variable-hour employees | Full-time employees on steady schedules |
The Accrual Method of 1 Hour per 30 Hours Worked
Under the accrual method, employees earn 1 hour of sick leave for every 30 hours they work, up to 40 hours per benefit year. Hours add up across weeks, so an employee who works 10 hours one week and 20 the next has earned 1 hour.
Full-time employee: 40 hours a week × 30 weeks = 1,200 hours worked
Sick leave earned: 1,200 ÷ 30 = 40 hours
A full-time employee hits the 40-hour cap after about 30 weeks of work.
Part-time employee: 20 hours a week × 26 weeks = 520 hours worked
Sick leave earned: 520 ÷ 30 = 17.33 hours
A 20-hour-a-week employee earns about 17 hours of sick leave in 6 months.
For salaried employees who are exempt from overtime, you don't have to track exact hours. NJDOL lets you assume they work 40 hours a week for accrual purposes.
The Front-Loading Method of 40 Hours Up Front
Front-loading means you give at least 40 hours on the first day of each benefit year. If you give the full 40 hours, you don't need to track accrual at all, which is why many small businesses choose it.
For someone hired partway through the year, you can give a smaller, prorated amount. But then you have to track their hours and add accrued leave if they'd otherwise earn more than you gave them, up to the 40-hour cap. The same applies if you front-load a smaller amount to part-time employees. To track sick leave balances in TimeClick, see our accrued times and PTO guide, which shows how to set up an accrual category and edit balances.
Setting Your Benefit Year
The benefit year is any fixed 12-month period you choose, such as the calendar year or your fiscal year. NJDOL's current guidance says it can also be tied to each employee's hire date. Put your benefit year in writing in your sick leave policy.
You can change your benefit year later, but you must give the NJDOL Commissioner written notice at least 30 calendar days before the change.
The 120-Day Waiting Period for New Hires
New employees start earning sick leave on their first day. You can make them wait until their 120th calendar day of employment before they use it, or you can let them use it sooner.
If you rehire someone within 6 months, you must restore their unused sick leave balance, and their earlier days count toward the 120-day wait. After a break of more than 6 months, they start over at zero.
Carryover and Payout Rules for Unused Sick Leave
Unused sick leave doesn't disappear at the end of the benefit year. Employees can carry over up to 40 unused hours into the next year.
That doesn't mean they can use 80 hours next year. You only have to let employees use 40 hours of sick leave in a benefit year, even if their balance is higher. You can allow more if you want to.
Offering a Year-End Payout
In the final month of the benefit year, you may offer to pay employees for their unused sick leave. You don't have to.
- Under the accrual method, the employee decides. They can take payment for all unused hours, take payment for 50% and carry over the rest, or decline and carry over everything. They have 10 calendar days from your offer to decide.
- Under the front-loading method, NJDOL guidance lets you choose between paying out the unused hours in full or carrying them over.
- Employees can't demand a payout on their own as they earn leave.
Unused sick leave at year end: 32 hours. Regular rate: $20 an hour.
Full payout: 32 hours × $20 = $640, and nothing carries over
50% payout: 16 hours × $20 = $320, and 16 hours carry over
Declined: $0 paid, and all 32 hours carry over
Sick Leave When an Employee Leaves
You don't have to pay out unused sick leave when someone quits or is let go, for any reason. The exception is if your written policy or a union contract promises a payout, so check your handbook before you assume.
Balances also stay with employees when they transfer to another location in New Jersey, and when a new owner takes over the business and keeps the employees.
Reasons Employees Can Use New Jersey Earned Sick Leave
Employees can use earned sick leave for any of these reasons:
- Their own physical or mental illness, injury or health condition, including diagnosis, treatment, recovery and preventive care such as checkups and screenings.
- Caring for a family member with any of those needs.
- Getting help after domestic or sexual violence against themselves or a family member, such as medical care, counseling, relocation, victim services or court dates.
- Attending a school meeting, conference or event for their child when the school asks them to come, or a meeting about the child's health or disability.
- A closure of the workplace or of a child's school or child care because of an epidemic or public health emergency.
- Quarantine or isolation on the advice of a health care provider or public health authority.
"Family member" is defined broadly. It covers children, parents, spouses, domestic and civil union partners, siblings, grandparents, grandchildren, in-laws, other blood relatives, and anyone whose close relationship with the employee is the same as family.
Leave Increments and Scheduled Shifts
You decide the smallest block of time employees can take, such as half an hour, one hour or half a day. The largest block you can require is one full scheduled shift.
For example, if an employee works 6-hour shifts, you can't make them take sick leave in 8-hour blocks. Sick leave covers hours the employee was scheduled to work, and it can be used for scheduled overtime hours too.
How Much to Pay for Sick Leave
Pay sick leave at the employee's regular rate, and never less than the state minimum wage ($15.92 an hour for most employers in 2026). Pay it in the same or next pay period, with regular pay or another way that's just as easy to cash. Sick leave hours are paid at straight time, without the overtime premium.
- Commission employees get their hourly base wage or the minimum wage, whichever is higher.
- Tipped employees, piece-rate workers and anyone with varying rates use a 7-day lookback: total earnings (minus overtime) from the last 7 days worked, divided by the hours worked in those days.
Server's earnings over the last 7 days worked, including tips and minus overtime: $1,050
Hours worked in those 7 days: 50
Sick leave rate: $1,050 ÷ 50 = $21 an hour
A 6-hour sick day pays 6 × $21 = $126
Notice, Documentation and Blackout Date Rules for Employers
You can set reasonable rules about how employees request sick leave, as long as they're in your written policy and you've told employees about them.
- Planned leave: You can require up to 7 calendar days' notice for leave that's foreseeable, like a scheduled surgery. The notice should say they intend to take leave and how long they expect to be out.
- Unplanned leave: For sudden illness, employees only have to tell you as soon as practical.
- Blackout dates: You can bar planned (foreseeable) sick leave during verifiable high-volume periods or special events, if you give employees reasonable notice of those dates ahead of time. Writing them down is best.
- Documentation: You can ask for reasonable proof, like a note from a health care provider, only when an employee uses sick leave for 3 or more consecutive workdays, or for unplanned leave on a blackout date.
There are also clear limits on what you can ask for:
- You can't require employees to tell you the medical reason for their leave, and a doctor's note doesn't have to include it.
- You must keep any health or domestic violence information confidential unless the employee agrees in writing to share it.
- You can't require an employee to find someone to cover their shift. Finding coverage is the employer's job.
- You can't require employees to make up the missed hours instead of using sick leave. They can choose to swap shifts or work extra hours if you both agree.
- You can't charge employees for sick leave or deduct it from their pay.
Using a PTO Policy to Meet the New Jersey Earned Sick Leave Law
If you already offer paid time off (PTO), it can satisfy the law, so you don't have to add 40 more hours of sick leave on top of it. But every PTO hour has to meet the sick leave rules. That means your PTO policy must:
- Give at least 1 hour for every 30 hours worked, or front-load at least 40 hours.
- Allow use for every reason the sick leave law covers, including school events and public health closures.
- Follow the same notice rules, so no advance notice requirement for sudden illness.
- Follow the same documentation rules and the no-coverage rule.
WATCH OUT
If you track sick leave separately from vacation, only the sick leave bank has to follow the law. If you lump everything into one PTO bank, NJDOL treats all of it as earned sick leave, even the hours above 40. That affects carryover, notice and documentation for your whole PTO balance.
To compare New Jersey with other states, see our PTO laws by state guide.
Required Poster, Written Notice and Recordkeeping
New Jersey requires three things from every employer to show you're following the law.
Display the Earned Sick Leave Poster
Display the official "New Jersey Earned Sick Leave Notice of Employee Rights" (form MW-565) where all employees can see it, like a break room. It's part of the free NJDOL employer poster packet. NJDOL also accepts posting it on an internal website your employees can reach.
Give Each Employee a Written Copy
Give each new employee a written copy of the notice when they're hired, and give a copy to any employee who asks. Email is fine. Provide it in the employee's primary language if NJDOL offers that translation, and keep proof (a signed copy or an email record) that each employee received it.
Keep Sick Leave Records for 5 Years
Keep records for 5 years showing, for each employee:
- Hours worked, including for employees paid in cash.
- Sick leave earned or front-loaded.
- Sick leave used, paid out and carried over.
- Proof that the employee received the written notice.
NJDOL can ask to see these records at any time. If you don't have them, the law presumes you failed to provide sick leave, and you'd have to prove otherwise with clear and convincing evidence.
TIMECLICK TIP
Accurate time records do most of the work here. When every hour worked is recorded, you can figure accrual, carryover and payouts straight from your timesheets, and you already have the records NJDOL asks for. Our guide to employee time tracking compliance covers what else to keep.
Penalties and Retaliation Protections
NJDOL enforces the law through its Division of Wage and Hour Compliance. A violation is treated like a failure to pay wages under the New Jersey Wage and Hour Law.
- Fines range from $100 to $1,000, and they go up for repeat offenses.
- Each week you fail to provide sick leave, and each employee affected, counts as a separate violation.
- There are additional penalties for retaliation.
- Employees can also sue for the unpaid leave plus liquidated damages.
You can't punish employees for requesting or using sick leave, filing a complaint, joining an investigation or telling coworkers about their rights. Punishment includes threats, discipline, firing, demotion, suspension or cutting hours or pay.
WATCH OUT
If you take negative action against an employee within 90 days of them using sick leave or raising a sick leave concern, the law presumes it was retaliation. That's a rebuttable presumption, so you'd have to prove you had another reason. "No fault" attendance policies that count every absence, including protected sick days, can count as retaliation too.
How Earned Sick Leave Works With Family Leave Insurance and Disability Benefits
New Jersey has two state insurance programs that pay employees part of their wages during longer leaves. You pay earned sick leave yourself, while these benefits come from the state (or a private plan) and are funded through payroll contributions.
- Temporary Disability Insurance (TDI) pays employees who can't work because of their own illness or injury.
- Family Leave Insurance (FLI) pays employees who are bonding with a new child, caring for a seriously ill family member, or dealing with domestic or sexual violence. It pays for up to 12 consecutive weeks, or 56 separate days, in a 12-month period.
| 2026 figure | Temporary Disability Insurance | Family Leave Insurance |
|---|---|---|
| Employee contribution | 0.19% of the first $171,100 in wages (up to $325.09) | 0.23% of the first $171,100 in wages (up to $393.53) |
| Employer contribution | 0.10% to 0.75% of the first $44,800 per employee | None |
| Weekly benefit | 85% of average weekly wage, up to $1,119 | 85% of average weekly wage, up to $1,119 |
| Employee earnings needed (2026 claims) | 20 weeks at $310 or more, or $15,500 in the base year | 20 weeks at $310 or more, or $15,500 in the base year |
Here's how the programs fit with sick leave:
- You can't require employees to use their earned sick leave before they collect TDI or FLI benefits.
- Employees can't collect TDI for any day you pay them full wages through sick leave or PTO. If they choose to use paid time first, their state benefits start later.
- Sick leave can run at the same time as federal FMLA leave or New Jersey Family Leave Act (NJFLA) leave.
New Job Protections Starting July 17, 2026
Starting July 17, 2026, employees who collect TDI or FLI benefits have the right to return to the same job, or one with the same pay, benefits and seniority, when their leave ends. This applies to employers of any size and doesn't depend on how long the employee has worked for you.
The NJFLA, which gives up to 12 weeks of job-protected leave in a 24-month period for bonding or family care, also expanded on that date:
| NJFLA rule | Before July 17, 2026 | On or after July 17, 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Employer size | 30 or more employees | 15 or more employees |
| Time with employer | 12 months | 3 months |
| Hours worked in past 12 months | 1,000 | 250 |
See the NJDOL page on expanded job protections and the employer page for TDI and FLI for the full details.
New Jersey Earned Sick Leave Compliance Checklist for Employers
Use this checklist to set up or review your policy:
- Choose your benefit year and write it into your sick leave policy.
- Decide whether each group of employees will accrue leave (1 hour per 30 hours worked) or get 40 hours front-loaded.
- Decide whether you'll use the 120-day waiting period for new hires.
- Set your leave increments, up to one full scheduled shift.
- Write your notice rules (up to 7 days for planned leave) and any blackout dates.
- Decide whether you'll offer a year-end payout or carry over unused hours.
- If you use PTO to meet the law, check that it allows every permitted use and follows the notice and documentation rules.
- Display the MW-565 poster and give every employee a written copy of the notice, with proof they got it.
- Check that sick pay is at least $15.92 an hour in 2026 (most employers) and plan for $16.48 in 2027.
- Set up records of hours worked and sick leave earned, used, paid out and carried over, and keep them for 5 years.
- Train managers on the no-retaliation rule and the limits on asking for documentation.
NJDOL's free small business sick leave guide and its Earned Sick Leave page walk through the same steps. You can also email wage.hour@dol.nj.gov or call 609-292-2305 with questions.
Frequently Asked Questions
Quick answers to the questions New Jersey employers ask most about earned sick leave.
Do small businesses in New Jersey have to provide paid sick leave?
Yes. The New Jersey Earned Sick Leave law covers employers of every size, even a business with one employee. There's no small business exemption.
Do part-time employees get paid sick leave in New Jersey?
Yes. Part-time, seasonal and temporary employees earn 1 hour of sick leave for every 30 hours they work, the same rate as full-time employees. They just reach the 40-hour cap more slowly.
When can a new employee start using sick leave?
New hires start earning leave on their first day. You can make them wait until their 120th calendar day of employment to use it, or let them use it sooner.
Do I have to pay out unused sick leave when an employee quits or is fired?
No. New Jersey doesn't require a payout at separation for any reason, unless your own written policy or a union contract promises one. If you rehire the employee within 6 months, you must restore their unused balance.
Can I ask for a doctor's note?
Only when an employee uses sick leave for 3 or more consecutive workdays, or takes unplanned leave on a blackout date you announced in advance. The note doesn't have to give the medical reason.
Can employees carry over more than 40 hours of sick leave?
You only have to allow 40 hours to carry over, and you only have to let employees use 40 hours in a benefit year. You can choose to be more generous in your policy.
Does my existing PTO policy count as earned sick leave?
It can, if it gives at least as much time and allows use for every reason the law covers, with the same notice and documentation rules. If all PTO is in one bank, NJDOL treats the whole bank as sick leave.
Can I require employees to use sick leave before state disability or family leave benefits?
No. Employees can choose to use sick leave first, but you can't make them use it before they collect Temporary Disability Insurance or Family Leave Insurance.
This guide is general information and isn't legal advice. For questions about your business, contact the NJDOL Division of Wage and Hour Compliance or an employment attorney.
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