New Jersey Administrative Code
Title 12 - LABOR AND WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT
Chapter 69 - EARNED SICK LEAVE RULES
Subchapter 2 - DEFINITIONS
Section 12:69-2.1 - Definitions
The following words and terms, when used in this chapter, shall have the following meanings unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:
"Act" means P.L. 2018, c. 10.
"Benefit year" means the period of 12 consecutive months established by an employer in which an employee shall accrue and use earned sick leave.
"Certified Domestic Violence Specialist" means a person who has fulfilled the requirements of certification as a Domestic Violence Specialist established by the New Jersey Association of Domestic Violence Professionals.
"Child" means a biological, adopted, or foster child, stepchild or legal ward of an employee, or child of a domestic partner or civil union partner of the employee.
"Civil union" means a civil union as defined in N.J.S.A. 37:1-29.
"Collective bargaining agreement" means an agreement between an employer and a labor union that regulates terms and conditions of employment.
"Commissioner" means the Commissioner of the Department of Labor and Workforce Development or his or her designee.
"Department" means the Department of Labor and Workforce Development.
"Designated domestic violence agency" means a county-wide organization with a primary purpose to provide services to victims of domestic violence, and which provides services that conform to the core domestic violence services profile as defined by the Division of Child Protection and Permanency in the Department of Children and Families and is under contract with that division for the express purpose of providing the services.
"Division" means the Division of Wage and Hour Compliance within the Department of Labor and Workforce Development.
"Domestic or sexual violence" means stalking, any sexually violent offense, as defined in N.J.S.A. 30:4-27.26, or domestic violence as defined in N.J.S.A. 2C:25-19 and 17:29B-16.
"Domestic partner" means a domestic partner as defined in N.J.S.A. 26:8A-3.
"Employee" means an individual engaged in service for compensation to an employer in the business of the employer who performs that service in New Jersey. The term "employee" does not include the following:
1. An individual engaged in service for compensation in the construction industry under contract pursuant to a collective bargaining agreement;
2. A per diem health care employee; or
3. A public employee who is provided with sick leave at full pay pursuant to any other law or rule of New Jersey.
"Employer" means any person, firm, business, educational institution, nonprofit agency, corporation, limited liability company, or other entity that employs employees in New Jersey, including a temporary help service firm. In the case of a temporary help service firm placing an employee with client firms, earned sick leave shall accrue on the basis of the total time worked on assignment with the temporary help service firm, not separately for each client firm to which the employee is assigned. The term "employer" does not include a public employer that is required to provide its employees with sick leave with full pay pursuant to any other law, rule, or regulation of New Jersey.
"Family member" means a child, grandchild, sibling, spouse, domestic partner, civil union partner, parent, or grandparent of an employee, or a spouse, domestic partner, or civil union partner of a parent or grandparent of the employee, or a sibling of a spouse, domestic partner, or civil union partner of the employee, or any other individual related by blood to the employee or whose close association with the employee is the equivalent of a family relationship.
1. For the purpose of this definition, an individual whose "close association with the employee is the equivalent of a family relationship" shall include any person with whom the employee has a significant personal bond that is, or is like, a family relationship, regardless of biological or legal relationship.
"Health care professional" means any person licensed under Federal, State, or local law, or the laws of a foreign nation, to provide health care services, or any other person who has been authorized to provide health care by a licensed health care professional, including, but not limited to doctors, nurses, and emergency room personnel.
"Hours worked" means "hours worked," as that phrase is defined within N.J.A.C. 12:56-5.
"Parent" means a biological, adoptive, or foster parent, stepparent, or legal guardian of an employee or of the employee's spouse, domestic partner, or civil union partner, or a person who stood in loco parentis of the employee or the employee's spouse, domestic partner, or civil union partner when the employee, spouse, or partner was a minor child.
"Per diem health care employee" means any:
1. Health care professional licensed in New Jersey employed by a health care facility licensed by the New Jersey Department of Health;
2. Individual that is in the process of applying to the New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs for a license to provide health care services, who is employed by a health care facility licensed by the New Jersey Department of Health; or
3. A first aid, rescue, or ambulance squad member employed by a hospital system, who:
i. Works on an as-needed basis to supplement a health care employee, or to replace or substitute for a temporarily absent health care employee;
ii. Works only when the employee indicates that the employee is available to work, and has no obligation to work when the employee does not indicate availability; and
iii. Either has:
(1) The opportunity for full-time or part-time employment in his or her scope of practice under that healthcare provider, which offers under the terms of employment earned time off benefits greater in length than provided under the Act; or
(2) Waived earned sick leave as provided under the Act under terms of employment for alternative benefits or consideration.
The term "per diem health care employee" shall not include any individual who is certified as a homemaker-home health aide.
"Retaliatory personnel action" means denial of any right guaranteed under the Act and any threat, discharge (including a constructive discharge), suspension, demotion, unfavorable reassignment, refusal to promote, disciplinary action, sanction, reduction of work hours, reporting or threatening to report the actual or suspected immigrant status of an employee or the employee's family, or any other adverse action against an employee.
"Sibling" means a biological, foster, or adopted sibling of an employee.
"Spouse" means a husband or wife.
"State minimum wage rate" means the minimum wage set forth at N.J.A.C. 12:56-3.1.
