Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Bereavement Leave topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Committee advances bill to expand bereavement leave to cover miscarriage, stillbirth and infant loss
Summary
AB 3505, amended and favorably released by the appropriations committee, would broaden bereavement leave to cover loss from miscarriage, stillbirth and infant death. Sponsor and family advocates gave emotional testimony; business groups signaled conditional support after amendments.
The Assembly Appropriations Committee on Sept. 23 favorably released Assembly Bill 3505, which would extend bereavement leave protections to parents who experience miscarriage, stillbirth and other forms of infant loss.
Sponsor Assemblywoman Spate told the committee the measure recognizes “people deserve the time to process their grief,” and said she was inspired after seeing a colleague return to work too soon following a miscarriage. The bill was amended in committee; Elyssa Frank, vice president of government affairs for the New Jersey Business and Industry Association, said the sponsor’s amendments moved NJBIA from opposition to neutral and that the changes made the measure workable for employers.
A resident identified as Jackie, representing the nonprofit Start Healing Together, delivered detailed personal testimony describing multiple experiences of pregnancy and infant loss and urged committee members to support the bill. Jackie said many employers and contracts do not explicitly cover infant loss and related events; she described instances when grieving parents were forced to use sick days or otherwise return to work without time to grieve.
Other organizations listed on the committee’s slips in support include Planned Parenthood, the New Jersey Education Association, and Advocates for Children of New Jersey. The committee voted to amend and favorably release AB 3505.
The committee’s action advances the bill to the next stage of the legislative process.
