Did you know? Family Leave Insurance
Imagine this scenario- your mom lives alone and has a hip replacement. Who is going to help her while she recovers? Chances are you’ll have to take time off of work to do so. But there may be some help available to ease your financial concerns.
NJ passed the Paid Family Leave Act in 2008 to help family caregivers with caring for a seriously ill family member or a new born.  In 2011, 4,587 people received benefits from this program for caring for a spouse or other family members.  This represents about 20% of the claims while the balance of 80% are related to bonding with a child or care of a sick child. The average length of care was 4 weeks and the estimated benefit was about $1,800.
This support comes from the employee’s payroll disability withholdings.  You have already set this money aside to address a future need like taking care of a sick child, spouse or parent. There are forms to complete and information to get, but so many people are caregivers and temporary leave their jobs this modest amount of support can give a caregiver some peace of mind- while they do the yeoman’s job of providing care for a loved one.
So, how does it work?
You can claim Family Leave Insurance benefits to care for a family member with a serious health condition. There is a very comprehensive application which will also necessitate a health care provider certifying the condition. You will see a link below to get the form online.
Care leave may be taken for six consecutive weeks, intermittent weeks or 42 intermittent days during a 12 month period beginning with the first date of the family leave insurance claim.
Family member means your spouse, domestic partner, civil union partner, parent or child.
The child must be your biological or adopted child, foster child, stepchild, legal ward or the child of your domestic or civil union partner. The child must be less than 19 years old or if older than 19 years of age must be incapable of self-care because of mental or physical impairment.
You must give your employer reasonable advance notice unless:
- You need to take family leave unexpectedly or
- The time of the family leave changes for reasons you could not    foresee.
 If you claim family leave benefits intermittently, you must give your employer 15 days notice.
You may access the application by going to http://lwd.state.nj.us/labor/forms_pdfs/tdi/fl1.pdf
Other important contacts:
Division of Temporary Disability Insurance Customer Service Section (609) 292-7060.
Hearing impaired individuals may contact our office by: Telecommunication Device for the Deaf (TDD)-(609) 292-8319, New Jersey Relay Service: TT user 1-800-852-7899, Voice User: 1-800-852-7897
Important: Please allow fourteen (14) days processing time before inquiring about your claim.
Division of Temporary Disability Insurance FAX number: (609) 984-4138
For additional information about the Family Leave Insurance Program, visit at:
To get additional help or information you may contact the NJ Time to Care Coalition by going to their website or calling their toll free number.  http://www.njtimetocare.com  or 1888-NJ GET WELL, 1-888-654-3893