If you’re hiring employees who live and work in New Jersey, your employee handbook needs to comply with federal and New Jersey state laws. While employers aren’t required to distribute employee handbooks, they’re a good way to introduce employees to your organization, set expectations, explain company policies and procedures, and mitigate your legal liability. If your New Jersey employee handbook fails to comply with state-specific laws, however, you could leave your company open to significant risk.

SixFifty knows how challenging, time-consuming and expensive it is to draft state-specific handbooks, especially when you’re hiring in more than one state. That’s why our Employment Docs platform helps employers generate their own custom employee handbooks in all 50 states. Read on for an overview of New Jersey employee handbooks, and how we can save you time and money.

Required New Jersey employee handbook policies

New Jersey requires employers to implement and comply with 11 state-specific policies, assuming you meet the employee or age threshold:

  • Domestic Violence Leave (for companies with 25 or more employees)
  • Emergency Responders Leave
  • FMLA (for companies with 30 or more employees)
  • Jury Duty
  • Meal and Rest Breaks (minors only)
  • Military Service Leave
  • Organ and Bone Marrow Policy
  • Paid Sick Leave
  • Pregnancy Leave
  • Witness Duty Leave
  • Whistleblower Protections Policy

Companies with fewer than the required number of employees don’t have to include the domestic violence or FMLA policies. If you don’t hire minors, you also don’t need to include the meal and rest breaks policy. However, if you’re close to the threshold or think you may hire minors someday, it’s helpful to include those policies from the start.

Optional New Jersey employee handbook policies

In addition to the 11 required New Jersey employee handbook policy, you may choose to include the following optional policies:

  • Affinity Group Policy
  • Anti-Bribery and Anti-Corruption Policy
  • Arbitration Policy
  • At-Will Employment Policy
  • Background Check Policy
  • Business Expense Policy
  • Cell Phone Policy
  • COBRA Policy
  • Code of Conduct
  • Company Property Policy
  • Confidentiality and Trade Secrets Policy
  • Desk Hoteling Policy
  • Direct Deposit Policy
  • Dress Code Policy
  • Drug and Alcohol Abuse Policy
  • Electronic Devices While Driving Policy
  • Employee Benefits Policy
  • Employee Classification Policy
  • Employee Dating Policy
  • Employee References Policy
  • Employee Referral Policy
  • Employment of Relatives Policy
  • Exit Interview Policy
  • Gifts Policy
  • Health and Safety Policy
  • Holidays
  • Immigration Law Compliance
  • Job Duties Policy
  • Leave Policies, including: Parental Leave; Bereavement Leave; Crime Victim Leave; Voting Leave; School Activity Leave
  • Marijuana Policy
  • Off-Duty Use of Facilities
  • Outside Employment Policy
  • Overtime Policy
  • Paid Time Off
  • Payment of Wages Policy
  • Payroll Deductions Policy
  • Performance Review Policy
  • Personnel Files Policy
  • Pets in the Workplace Policy
  • Progressive Discipline Policy
  • Public Relations Policy
  • Punctuality and Attendance Policy
  • Record Retention Policy
  • Remote Working Policy
  • Salary Pay Policy
  • Smoking Policy
  • Social Media Policy
  • Social Security Policy
  • Solicitation and Distribution of Literature Policy
  • Technology Systems Policy
  • Temporary Relocation Policy
  • Termination of Employment Policy
  • Timekeeping Policy
  • Video Conferencing Policy
  • Weapons in the Workplace Policy
  • Workers’ Compensation Policy
  • Workplace Violence Policy
  • Workplace Visitor Policy
  • Workweek and Work Schedules Policy

Depending on your company type, structure, industry, employment type and other factors, not all of these policies will fit your organization’s needs. Don’t feel obligated to include them all.

Required federal employee handbook policies

Finally, if you choose to create an employee handbook, you must also include these mandatory federal employee handbook policies:

  • Americans with Disabilities Act and Accommodations Policy
  • Equal Employment and Anti-Discrimination Policy
  • Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) Policy (for companies with more than 50 employees)
  • Jury Duty Leave
  • Military Service Leave
  • Sexual Harassment Policy
  • Lactation Accommodation Policy
  • Religious Accommodations Policy

Because federal law supersedes state law, these policies remain the same in all 50 states. All of your employee handbooks, whether for New Jersey or employees in another state, should contain these policies. However, please note that the New Jersey state requirement for FMLA leave is lower (30 employees) than federal requirements (50 employees).

How to create a New Jersey employee handbook

Drafting your own New Jersey employee handbooks can be a time-consuming and expensive task, even when you only include the required state and federal policies. If you accidentally violate state or federal employment laws, you could expose your organization to legal risk.

To prevent violations, some employers hire attorneys to draft their employee handbooks. This is a great option, but when you hire employees in more than one state, you’re bound to rack up billable hours. In contrast, using cost-saving measures like one-size-fits-all templates doesn’t guarantee that your handbook will include all the necessary policies and language to protect your business.

SixFifty’s Employment Docs platform is designed to be a better solution. Rather than drafting a New Jersey employee handbook from scratch, using a template, or hiring an attorney, we’ve done the hard work for you. Our platform guides employers through each stage of the employment life cycle, starting with offer letters and ending in separation and offboarding. Best of all, our legal team keeps a close watch over changes to employment legislation across the country. If there are any changes, we’ll notify you so you can regenerate and redistribute your handbooks.

Ready to learn more? Schedule a demo today!