NJ Calculator: Maternity Leave Pay | Temporary Disability

Every penny counts when you must stop working during maternity leave or a temporary disability. Therefore, accurately forecasting your income is critical to adjust your household budget.

Our NJ temporary disability pay calculator provides a quick estimate of the weekly and total benefits you might receive while unable to work because of a covered medical condition.

Our NJ maternity leave pay calculator immediately approximates the weekly and total benefits you might receive while bonding with your baby.

Meanwhile, many new mothers will use both calculators because the two programs support different reasons for taking time off from work.

Disclaimer: The NJ Department of Labor Determines Claim Amounts

Applying for NJ maternity leave benefits provides the official answer after a period. However, you can get an immediate estimate by inputting your average weekly wage into our calculator, displaying results for two programs. 

  1. NJ Temporary Disability covers a mom who cannot work because of her pregnancy-related condition for up to 26 weeks.
  2. NJ Paid Family Leave covers baby bonding time after she recovers from her disability for up to 12 weeks.

Pregnancy Disability

Our New Jersey maternity leave pay calculator relies on estimates from the temporary disability program outlined above (scroll up two sections) when a mom cannot work because of her covered pregnancy-related medical condition.

The length of NJ maternity leave benefits depends on your circumstances. For instance, temporary disability for pregnancy has many possible outcomes.

  • Pregnancy disability leave before her due date
    • Four weeks
    • Longer with a doctor’s note
  • Recovery from labor and delivery (childbirth)
    • Vaginal Birth: six weeks
    • C-Section Delivery: eight weeks
  • Postpartum disorders that delay her return to work 

Baby Bonding

Our New Jersey maternity leave pay calculator also includes a component estimating the benefits derived through NJ Paid Family Leave Insurance (NJPFLI), which provides coverage for baby bonding time.

NJPFLI utilizes the same inputs as NJTDI to calculate the weekly amount, but the total benefits differ because the waiting week does not apply.  

  1. Average Weekly Wage
  2. The maximum benefit is the lower of the two figures
    1. 85% of your average weekly wage
    1. Limit of $1,025 per week

Meanwhile, the duration of NJPFLI benefits depends on your choices.

  1. Continuous: twelve weeks
  2. Intermittent: eight weeks

Paternity Leave

Fathers in New Jersey also receive paternity leave payments. However, because dads do not become pregnant, deliver a baby, recover from childbirth, or experience postpartum complications, they qualify for one, not two, programs.

  1. Temporary disability does not cover pregnancy leave for fathers
  2. Paid family leave covers dads during three common scenarios.
    1. Baby bonding time for biological, adopted, or foster child
    1. Care of his wife during pregnancy disability leave
    1. Support of his sick infant born prematurely

Therefore, fathers should input data into our maternity leave pay calculator, not the temporary disability benefits estimator.

Disclaimer: The NJ Department of Labor Determines Claim Amounts

Applying for NJ temporary disability benefits provides the ultimate answer with a delay. However, you can get an immediate estimate by inputting your average weekly wage and the projected length of your incapacity into our calculator below. 

Weekly Wage

Your average weekly wage is the most critical input into the New Jersey temporary disability pay calculator, as the program covers up to 85% of your income.

Determine your average weekly wage by dividing your base earnings by the number of base weeks – any seven days beginning on a Monday when you earn more than $260.

Total up the earnings and base weeks in the first four of five completed quarters. Quarters are three-month intervals with up to thirteen weeks each. You arrive at the weekly wage with this simple math in this example.

$52,000/52 = $1,000

QuarterWagesEarned $260+
RecentNot CountedNot Counted
1$15,00013
2$15,00013
3$12,00013
4$10,00013
Sum$52,00052

Maximum Amount

The maximum benefit is a second important input into our New Jersey temporary disability pay calculator affecting people in the higher income brackets.

The maximum benefit is the lower of the two figures.

  1. 85% of your average weekly wage
  2. Limit of $1,025 per week

Some quick math reveals that someone earning more than $1,205 per week or $62,705 per year will reach the benefit limit.

Supplemental disability insurance can increase the benefit for high-income earners, provided they purchased a policy before becoming sick, hurt, or pregnant.

Waiting Week

Our New Jersey temporary disability benefits calculator includes a waiting week as an input that affects people out of work for less than three weeks. The feature goes away once your unpaid time off exceeds twenty-two days.

Days Out of WorkDays Paid
70
147
2114
2222

Once your disability continues past twenty-two days, the state will retroactively pay benefits for the lost seven days.

Benefit Length

The benefit period is the final input into our New Jersey temporary disability pay calculator. The NJ program honors claims for a maximum of twenty-six weeks.

Many people recover before the six months elapse. On the other hand, others remain unable to work beyond this point, and filing an extension is fruitless – because their eligibility ends after twenty-six weeks.

Apply for temporary disability through Social Security if you expect your medical condition to last more than twelve months. Social Security might begin issuing checks just as the NJ program expires if approved.