Human Resource Blog

Pregnancy and New Jersey Disability

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What protection and benefits does the New Jersey Temporary Disability Benefit (TDB) program offer pregnant women? 

In the U.S., more than 80% of the states offer no paid leave for mothers.

New Jersey is one of the exceptions to that rule, offering women temporary disability payments under the New Jersey TDB program.  This is the same program that provides payments to other workers with short-term disabilities.

An employee can collect New Jersey disability benefits due to pregnancy, however, they are limited to the actual amount of time that a doctor certifies that they are physically unable to work. With a normal pregnancy and delivery, this is usually a period that starts 4 weeks prior to the due date and ends 6 weeks after delivery. That period can be much longer if an employee has pregnancy complications that require bed rest. Women who have caesarian sections or other birth complications may also be disabled longer. 

Keep in mind that under the federal FMLA or Family and Medical Leave Act, you are entitled to up to 12 weeks total of job-protected leave. However, this leave is unpaid. Many New Jersey mothers take 10 weeks of disability under TDB plus an additional 2 weeks of unpaid leave under FMLA.

Also remember that in order to qualify for New Jersey short-term disability benefits, a woman must meet all the usual requirements. Basically, she must have earned at least $143 per week for 20 of the past 52 weeks, working for a

New Jersey company that is covered by the state’s unemployment insurance program.

In order to qualify for short-term disability benefits, an employee should always take a leave of absence, rather than quitting his or her job.

Working until your delivery date (with your doctor’s permission) doesn’t extend your benefits under TDB. In fact, it shortens them. In that scenario, you would likely be entitled to 6 weeks of disability pay after the delivery. Remember that short-term disability only kicks in for the period of time that a doctor certifies that you are medically unable to work.  Some women do choose this route, because it gives them more time at home with a new baby. In that situation, many mothers they take 6 weeks of disability at 2/3 salary and another 6 weeks of unpaid FMLA leave.