Expansion of NJ paid family, temporary disability leaves goes into effect July 1.

Byline: Daniel J. Munoz

A highly-anticipated expansion of New Jersey's paid family leave and temporary disability insurance goes into effect this month, ramping up benefits for workers and doubling eligibility.

Starting July 1, workers will be able to claim up to 12 consecutive weeks of paid family leave during a 12-month period up from the maximum of six weeks. The expansion also allows for 56 intermittent days, not taken consecutively, up from 42 days.

Under the expanded family leave and new temporary disability insurance (TDI) programs, workers can collect 85 percent of their weekly pay to make up for lost wages, capped at $881, and up from two thirds of their weekly pay, capped at $650, for a maximum of $10,572 instead of $3,900.

The family leave expansion also lets workers take time off to care for a new child or a sick loved one.

The law, signed by Gov. Phil Murphy over a year ago, has been widely hailed by progressive activists who say the expansion comes at a time when tens of thousands workers in the state have been hit by the COVID-19 pandemic and effectively forced to stay home.

And, many activists argue, the prior versions of the program were simply too narrow, and left out lower-income, typically families of color.

"The COVID-19 crisis has made it clear how important paid leave is for workers and we need to ensure that our response addresses worker's needs now," Yarrow William-Cole, the workplace justice director for New Jersey Citizen Action, said at a Wednesday morning press conference.

"There are really so many proven benefits to being able to take paid family leave and it needs to be accessible to all workers so we ensure that the program design and administration don't replicate structural gender and racial inequities that exist in our society," she added.

New Jersey workers contribute 0.16 percent of their paycheck to the family leave program, and both the worker and employer contribute a combined 0.26 percent to the disability insurance program.

New Jersey is one of the few states that offers TDI benefits, which provide short-term disability for people in the state who are put out of work due to an injury, pregnancy, or another type of disability.

In March, Murphy signed a law that expands the definition...