Leave of Absence
The Newark Board of Education provides various types of leaves of absence for employees to use should they need to take extended time off from work — reasons include having a baby, caring for a loved one, serving in the military, or recovering from an injury or illness. In all leave of absence cases, employees will need to seek prior approval of the leave from their supervisor and submit required paperwork and documentation. Please refer to the NBOE Leave of Absence FAQs for more information.
How To Apply
To request a leave of absence, you must send an email to: leaveofabsence@nps.k12.nj.us providing your name, employee ID#, type of leave, start and end dates.
If your leave of absence is medically related, you will need to complete medical certification forms, or provide medical documentation certified by your medical provider. For your convenience, the medical certification forms are available on the NBOE website
https://www.nps.k12.nj.us/departments/human-resources/employee-services/
Once you have submitted your request, Human Resource Services will open a leave case, and process “eligibility” to determine if you qualify under the FMLA (Family Medical Leave Act – employee) and/or New Jersey Family Leave Act (caring for a family member/bonding with newborn).
Eligibility is based on the total amount of hours you worked within one (1) year of service;
10-month employees must work 1,200 hours; and have worked one (1) full year with the District. *
12-month employees must work 1,250 hours; and have worked one (1) full year with the District. *
*The amount of hours worked is based on the calendar year, not the school calendar. The total amount of years worked is based on 1 full year of service, not total years with the District.
All medical certification forms must be completed, signed by the treating physician, and returned to Human Resource Services either by fax 862-810-8093 or by email to leaveofabsence@nps.k12.nj.us.
By mail:
Newark Board of Education
765 Broad Street, 2nd Floor
Newark, New Jersey 07102;
If approved under the FMLA and/or NJFLA (New Jersey Family Leave Act – for the care of qualified family member or bonding with newborn leave of absence), your benefits will remain active.
IMPORTANT: If you participate in any one of the district’s medical plans, you have no-cost access to Maven, a digital health platform for parents through the AetnaⓇ Enhanced Maternity Program™ with family-building and menopause support. Maven provides free, 24/7 virtual support for pregnancy, postpartum, returning to work, parenting, and pediatrics—all the way up to your child’s 10th birthday. You can use their platform to:
- Book on-demand video appointments with providers across more than 35 specialties, including doulas, mental health specialists, lactation consultants, and infant sleep coaches
- Read articles vetted by Maven doctors, nurses, and coaches that are tailored to your journey
- Access our extensive library of provider-led virtual classes, covering topics like breastfeeding, newborn care, postpartum stress management, and more!
To learn more about Maven and to sign up, visit: /medical/#maven
Maternity Leave Extension
If an employee has utilized the allotted 12 weeks/60 days under the FMLA and/or NJFLA, and exhausted her accrual time (sick, personal or vacation days); the health coverage will be affected.
At that point, the Office of Benefit Services will forward information regarding COBRA coverage.
If you have any further questions regarding leave process, please contact the Leaves Department at 973-733-7336.
Please note that all email communication will be sent to your District email.
All employees returning to work from an FMLA, FMLA/NJFLA, Illness, and Maternity leave of absence, must submit medical clearance (doctor’s note/letterhead – indicating diagnosis, and clearance date you expect to return) at least three (3) days prior to their return to work date. You may submit this information by email to leaveofabsence@nps.k12.nj.us.
New Jersey Family Leave Act
(NJFLA)
NJ FLI -- 5 Things Flyer
FMLA English & Spanish WHD
NJ FLA Flyer
FMLA Frequently Asked Questions
U.S. Department of Labor
FMLA-PowerPoint
U.S. Department of Labor
Temporary Disability and Family Leave Insurance
NJ Temporary Disability Insurance provides cash benefits to employees in New Jersey who are unable to work due to a physical or mental health condition or other disability unrelated to their work, including pregnancy/childbirth recovery and COVID-19. However, the Newark Board of Education does not participate in this program and employees that apply will not be approved for NJ Temporary Disability. Alternatively, the district provides employees access to voluntary benefits such as short term disability through authorized vendors. Please visit https://nboehrs.com/voluntary-and-fringe-benefits/ for a complete listing.
NJ Family Leave Insurance provides cash benefits to employees in New Jersey who are unable to work because they need to bond with a new child, care for a family member with a physical or mental health condition or handle certain matters related to domestic or sexual violence. Visit https://www.nj.gov/labor/myleavebenefits/worker/fli/ for more information or to apply.
Family Leave Insurance
NJ Dept of LWD
Cash Benefits Family Leave
Alternative Health Coverage Options
Attached please find the following pdf documents:
- How to View Leave Accruals
- How to View Leave Accrual via Kronos
How to View Leave Accruals
How to View Leave Accruals via Kronos
Donor Days
If you would like to apply, please complete the form below and forward it to Office of Health Services. The Benefits Team doesn’t handle donor days.
Questions about donor days, how to apply, who is eligibility, etc. please reach out to the Office of Health Services.
Their email is SWarren@NPS.K12.NJ.US
Donor Day Program Request Form
Health Benefits on Leave
Below is the outline the District follows regarding benefits and an employee’s leave status for reference:
Benefits- FAQs for Leaves
If an employee is under a paid medical leave such as FMLA, NJFLA, Illness, or Maternity, medical benefits will not be affected.
If an employee is on an unpaid medical leave such as FMLA and NJFLA, medical benefits will not be affected. However, any employee medical contributions not collected during the unpaid leave of absence will result in retroactive deductions being applied once the employee returns from the leave. Note, FMLA and/or NJFLA provides certain employees with up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave per year.
If an employee is on an unpaid medical leave such as Illness, Personal, Maternity, and Special Leave, medical benefits will be affected. The employee will be offered the opportunity to enroll in COBRA coverage (click here for more information about COBRA) with the third-party administrator, Inspira in which the employee will be responsible for the full premium payment for each elected benefit.
Note, you are not required to enroll into COBRA. Since this is a qualifying event, if applicable, you can enroll onto your spouse’s health plan, if their employer offers it.
With COBRA the subscriber pays the whole monthly premiums, but with Employer sponsored benefits, the employer and employee share a cost to the monthly premiums, which may be a cheaper alternative.
IMPORTANT NOTICE: Once you return from leave, you must take-action to reinstate your health coverage. Health coverage doesn’t automatically reinstate once you return from leave. Within 5-7 business days after your return, please visit the Benefits Portal at www.NBOEbenefits.com to make your elections.
Below are alternative health coverage options.
Alternative Health Coverage Options
504 Accommodation
Section 504 of The Rehabilitation Act of 1973 requires public schools to offer accommodations for eligible students with disabilities. It also covers employees and requires employers to provide effective, reasonable accommodations for qualified employees with disabilities. To be protected by the ADA, one must have a disability or have a relationship or association with an individual with a disability. An individual with a disability is defined by the ADA as a person who has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities, a person who has a history or record of such an impairment, or a person who is perceived by others as having such an impairment. The ADA does not specifically name all of the impairments that are covered.
“In general, an accommodation is any change in the work environment or in the way things are customarily done that enables an individual with a disability to enjoy equal employment opportunities.”(3)There are three categories of “reasonable accommodations”:
“(i) modifications or adjustments to a job application process that enable a qualified applicant with a disability to be considered for the position such qualified applicant desires; or
(ii) modifications or adjustments to the work environment, or to the manner or circumstances under which the position held or desired is customarily performed, that enable a qualified individual with a disability to perform the essential functions of that position; or
(iii) modifications or adjustments that enable a covered entity’s employee with a disability to enjoy equal benefits and privileges of employment as are enjoyed by its other similarly situated employees without disabilities.”(4)
Eligibility
You may be eligible for an accommodation if you have one of the following:
- You have a physical or mental impairment; and
- The impairment substantially limits at least one major life activity.
Physical or Mental Impairments
Some examples of physical or mental impairments are physical disabilities, health conditions, mental disorders, and learning disabilities.
- Short term impairments (like a broken leg) may qualify an employee for 504 accommodations. Such accommodations vary depending on how long the impairment lasts, and how limiting it is.
- Episodic impairments (like asthma) may qualify an employee for 504 accommodations. Employees are qualified if the impairment substantially limits a major life activity when it is active.
Examples of Major Life Activities:
Caring for oneself, communicating, bending, breathing, doing tasks with one’s hands, eating, focusing, hearing, learning, lifting, major bodily functions, reading, seeing, sleeping, speaking, standing, thinking, walking, working.
Requesting Reasonable Accommodation
Complete and return a Section 504 ADA Accommodation Request Form along with supporting medical documentation that reflects a diagnosis and prognosis and email it to Human Resources humanresources@nps.k12.nj.us.
504 Accommodation Submission and Review Process
Upon receipt of the application, an email will be sent to your principal/supervisor and a determination will be made as to whether you meet the ADA’s qualification of “disabled” and/or “handicapped.” In all cases, the requested accommodation is subject to feasibility and administrator approval.
Should you be identified as disabled/handicapped, your principal/supervisor will receive notice of the requested accommodation without revealing the diagnosis. This may lead to an interactive meeting with you, your principal/supervisor and the 504 Accommodation Officer. The interactive meeting will address the request and determine a reasonable accommodation that can be offered/implemented (i.e., 504 Plan). Thereafter, a 504 Plan letter will be forwarded to you and your principal/supervisor for their respective records and they will implement the plan.
504 Accommodation Renewal
Once an employee is determined to be eligible and is approved, the accommodation is valid for a year. An employee must submit the Section 504 ADA Accommodation Request Form annually. New 504 request forms are also required to request new or modified health services or other accommodations, but may not be needed to continue an existing accommodation.
504 Plans must be reviewed before the end of each school year or more often if necessary, and amended at the time of the review, if necessary. If your impairment continues to substantially limit your abilities, you will remain eligible for accommodations. Your 504 Plan will be reviewed before the end of the approved accommodation period, to the extent possible, to create a new Plan for the upcoming school year. If it is decided that your impairment no longer substantially limits your ability in a major life activity, you are no longer eligible for accommodations (the 504 Plan is ended).
For more information, contact Human Resources at humanresources@nps.k12.nj.us or by calling 973-733-6950.