Bergen County Employment Attorneys for FMLA Violations
State and federal laws allow New Jersey employees to take unpaid leave for personal health issues or to care for a family member who is ill. An employer’s refusal to allow leave or retaliation for taking leave is illegal discrimination.
Experienced employment law attorney Jae E. Lee and the legal team at Jae Lee Law are committed to protecting workers’ rights and holding employers accountable under the law for economic and emotional damages. Our Bergen County law firm handles claims statewide under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and corresponding laws of New Jersey.
Contact us today online or by telephone at 201-346-3800 to speak with an experienced Bergen County employment discrimination attorney.
Bergen County FMLA Lawyers: Pregnancy Attorneys
The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) allows full-time employees who have been with a company for at least a year to take up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave for health-related reasons:
The employer cannot deny reasonable FMLA leave and cannot take adverse employment action (termination, demotion, negative performance review). The employer must also make reasonable accommodations of health problems or ongoing care of a family member once the person returns to work.
- Personal leave — Illness, surgery and rehab, pregnancy complications, maternity leave
- Family medical leave — Caring for an elderly parent, sick child, disabled spouse, etc.
How New Jersey Law Expands Your Family Leave Rights
While the federal FMLA sets a national baseline, New Jersey workers are protected by a second, separate law that often provides even greater coverage. The New Jersey Family Leave Act (NJFLA) gives eligible employees the right to take up to 12 weeks of job-protected leave within a 24-month period to bond with a new child or to care for a family member with a serious health condition. Unlike the federal law, the NJFLA does not cover an employee’s own medical condition, but it defines “family member” far more broadly and applies to many employers that fall below the federal threshold.
These two laws frequently run side by side, and understanding how they interact can mean the difference between a few protected weeks and several protected months. When both statutes apply to the same leave, your time off generally runs concurrently. When a leave qualifies under only one law, such as recovering from your own surgery under the FMLA, it counts against that law alone and preserves your entitlement under the other. The overlap is technical, and employers sometimes use that complexity to deny leave or shortchange the protections you are owed. We help workers across our employment law practice cut through that confusion and use the full scope of their rights.
Recent Changes Strengthening Leave Protections for New Jersey Workers
New Jersey continues to widen access to family leave, and several important changes are reshaping who qualifies. In January 2026, legislation was signed that lowers the employer-size threshold for NJFLA coverage and shortens the work history required to become eligible. Beginning in mid-2026, the minimum number of employees required for an employer to be covered drops, and the eligibility standard moves from twelve months and 1,000 hours of service toward a far shorter qualifying period. These expansions mean that part-time, seasonal, and newer employees who were previously shut out may soon have job-protected leave available to them.
The federal FMLA carries its own specific eligibility rules that have not changed. According to the U.S. Department of Labor’s Fact Sheet on the Family and Medical Leave Act, an employee qualifies only after working for a covered employer for at least 12 months, logging a minimum of 1,250 hours of service in the preceding year, and working at a location where the employer has at least 50 employees within a 75-mile radius. Since these standards differ from the state law’s requirements, many workers are eligible under one statute but not the other, and some qualify under both. Sorting out which protections apply to your situation is precisely the kind of analysis our team handles every day.
What Counts as Illegal Retaliation or Interference?
Both state and federal law prohibit employers from punishing workers who request or take protected leave, yet retaliation remains one of the most common violations we see. An employer cannot fire, demote, cut hours, deny a promotion, or issue an unwarranted negative review just because you exercised your leave rights. Interference is equally unlawful, including discouraging you from applying, failing to restore you to the same or a virtually identical position, or refusing to maintain your group health benefits during leave.
Sometimes the retaliation is obvious, such as a termination that lands days after you return from caring for a parent. More often, it is subtle, surfacing as a sudden pattern of write-ups, exclusion from key projects, or a manufactured reason for letting you go. When leave-related mistreatment crosses into a firing, it can also give rise to a wrongful termination claim, and many of these cases overlap with other workplace retaliation protections. Documenting the timeline, your communications, and your performance history is critical, and we work closely with you to build a clear record that connects the adverse action to your protected leave.
When Leave Issues Overlap With Discrimination Claims
Conflicts over family and medical leave are seldom isolated incidents, often reflecting deeper issues within a company. A denied accommodation for a pregnancy complication, a refusal to adjust duties for a worker managing a disability, or different treatment of mothers and fathers seeking bonding time can all transform a leave dispute into a discrimination case. New Jersey’s Law Against Discrimination is among the most protective statutes in the country, and it frequently provides additional avenues for relief alongside the FMLA and NJFLA.
When a leave problem reflects bias, you may have overlapping claims under several laws at once. Workers who face penalties tied to a medical condition may also have grounds under disability discrimination protections, while those treated differently because of caregiving roles or pregnancy may have claims connected to gender discrimination in the workplace. Evaluating every angle ensures that nothing is left on the table, and it positions you to recover the full measure of economic and emotional damages the law allows. Our attorneys take the time to examine how each statute applies so your case reflects the complete picture of what you have experienced.
Contact the Bergen County Employment Attorneys at Jae Lee Law
Standing up to an employer who has denied your leave or punished you for taking it can feel intimidating, but you do not have to do it alone. Managing partner Jae E. Lee brings nearly 30 years of experience and a hands-on, client-first approach to every matter, backed by a team with more than 100 years of combined legal experience. As one of the small percentage of New Jersey attorneys certified by the state Supreme Court, Ms. Lee is proactive rather than merely responsive, and she is always prepared to take a case to trial when an employer refuses to do right by an employee. Our firm also serves clients in English, Korean, Spanish, Russian, and Ukrainian, ensuring language is never an obstacle to justice.
When your livelihood and your family’s stability are on the line, you deserve advocates who treat your case with the urgency and care it demands. We will explain your rights clearly, pursue maximum recovery for the wages and dignity you have lost, and hold your employer accountable under every law that applies. To discuss your situation with a dedicated Bergen County employment law team, schedule your confidential consultation with Jae Lee Law today.
