New Jersey Temporary
Disability Insurance (TDI)
New Jersey Temporary Disability Insurance (NJ TDI) offers wage replacement benefits if an employee needs time off from work. NJ TDI applies if an employee is unable to work due to pregnancy and/or childbirth or due to a non-work-related injury or illness.
Employers can participate in the state-run program, or they can self-insure or fully insure a private plan.
MetLife offers self-insured and fully insured NJ TDI plans.
Benefit Overview
Mandated Coverage & Employee Eligibility
HintLeave Reason, Duration, Job Protection
HintCost of Coverage and Contributions
HintBenefit Payments
HintAll covered employers are required to offer NJ TDI benefits if they have employees working in the state of NJ.
An employee working for a covered employer is eligible for benefits if they have 20 weeks of work with earnings of at least 20 times the minimum wage ($15.49 in 2025), or $303 per week, or $15,200 within the base year. Individual employees are not allowed to opt out of the program.
Eligible employees can receive part of their pay, but no job protection, if they need to take time off for certain reasons.
An employee can have more than one benefit each year, but no more than 26 weeks total.
Disability Leave can be taken for up to 26 weeks after a 7-day waiting period to:
- address a personal serious health condition or injury, including pregnancy/maternity
If a disability continues more than 3 weeks, the employee will be paid retroactively for the first 7 days.
Job protection may be provided through other federal or state laws such as the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA).
Beginning January 1, 2025, an employee’s maximum contribution is 0.23% of the employee’s taxable wages, or a total of $380.42. In 2025, New Jersey’s employee taxable wage base is $165,400.
Private plan insurance premiums may differ, however, state covered payroll caps apply. Employee maximum contributions for a private plan cannot be more than what they would pay for the state-run program. Employers fund the balance of the premium for insured private plans.
MetLife can also provide claim administration for self-insured private plans. Employers are allowed to collect payroll contributions up to the state’s maximums and use the funds to pay benefits. Service fees paid to support the operating costs for state approved self-insured plans are the employer’s responsibility.
Please visit the state program’s website for the latest state rates and additional state plan information.
The benefit amount an employee can receive depends on the employee’s average weekly pay and compares it to the average weekly pay for everyone in New Jersey.
An employee can receive up to 85% of their average weekly pay, but no more than 70% of the state average weekly wage, which is $1545.60.
In 2025, employees can receive a maximum weekly benefit of $1,081.
Key Dates
- Maximum weekly benefit and contribution rates are announced
Taking a Leave
Filing for Benefits with MetLife
HintSupporting Claim Documentation
HintCoordination of Benefits
HintStep 1: An employee should notify their employer of the need for a leave as soon as possible.
Step 2: An employee should file a claim up to 60 days in advance of the leave. If the leave is unforeseeable, claims may be submitted up to 30 days after the leave has begun.
Step 3: MetLife will gather any additional necessary information from the employee and make a decision within 15 days or the first day of leave, whichever is later.
Step 4: If an employee’s claim is denied, an employee may appeal the claim first with MetLife. Appeal filing instructions can be found in the claim denial letter.
Employees must provide specific documents for each claim. It is important to submit paperwork to the doctor as soon as possible. It might take the doctor’s office two weeks or more to complete the paperwork. In some cases, a statement confirming the relationship between the employee and the family member may also be requested.
For an employee's own serious health condition (when an employee is sick or hurt and cannot work for an extended period):
- Certification of a Serious Health Condition form filled out by an employee and their healthcare provider, or
- A doctor’s note or Attending Physician Statement (APS) that includes the same information as the Certification of Serious Health Condition form and/or any other reasonable information or documentation necessary to adjudicate the claim.
Employees may be eligible for more than one leave.
If an employee is receiving other benefits through their employer when on NJ TDI, NJ TDI benefits may be reduced if those benefits plus continued employer pay exceeds regular weekly wages.
NJ TDI and the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) benefits can and should be taken at the same time when applicable.
MetLife’s claims team will reach out to the employer to coordinate dates of the company leave that directly overlap with the state leave.
MetLife representatives can help review employer paid benefits that may overlap with the state leave. They can help document overlaps and preferred contact and action when the overlap happens.
Note: There may be additional leaves that MetLife does not administer. Employers may be responsible for providing additional leaves for their employees. Employers should consult their own employment attorneys to identify changes to their other employer-sponsored paid and unpaid leave plans.
Need more information?
As of November 25, 2024