TRENTON, N.J. (KYW Newsradio) — Losing a child during pregnancy is a traumatic experience for families, and a new bill advancing in New Jersey would provide bereavement leave from work after families suffer these kinds of losses.
This legislation would expand the New Jersey Family Leave Act to include miscarriages, stillbirths and some other tragic medical events. It’s a personal matter for the bill's cosponsor, Republican state Sen. Vince Polistina, who says his family struggled with a miscarriage years ago.
“It brings back the memories and experiences that a lot of people have had to deal with,” he said, “and it’s unfortunate that that pain is tough to get over.”
The bill advanced unanimously out of the Senate Labor Committee on Friday, but it isn’t yet scheduled for a full vote.
Under the bill, co-sponsored by Democratic state Sen. Raj Mukherji, companies that currently must adhere to family leave laws, would have to provide up to three weeks off at 85% pay for parents and domestic partners who lost a child.
“People in that situation need to have time off to grieve and to heal,” Polistina said, “and we think that they deserve the time off with payment in order to be able to deal with the situation.”