The New Jersey state Senate's budget committee on Dec. 15 advanced a bill that would allow for people who work for small businesses to return to work without retaliation after taking paid or unpaid family leave.
The legislation would apply to New Jersey residents who work for companies that employ fewer than 30 but more than five employees and ensure that employers cannot refuse to reinstate workers who take paid or unpaid family leave.
What did advocates say?
Yarrow Willman-Cole, workplace justice program director for New Jersey Citizen Action, supported the bill but called for amendments because she said it does not go far enough to provide accessibility and equity.
“No one should be prevented from accessing the paid leave benefits that they are contributing to and entitled for. We passed paid family leave 17 years ago and it took us 10 years to improve it — it should not take another decade to get this right,” Willman-Cole said in testimony before the senate budget committee. “Our laws should reflect our society’s growing caregiving needs. New Jersey is in fact not keeping up. When we compare ourselves to other states passing paid leave laws like Connecticut and Minnesota and even New York. These states provide workers who take paid leave with job protection.”
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