N.J. families grieving the loss of a child, failed adoption or fertility treatment could soon be able to take bereavement leave

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Shortly after Gloucester County, New Jersey resident Jackie Mancinelli was hired as a high school English teacher in Camden County in 2014, she suffered a miscarriage late in her first trimester.

After the miscarriage was confirmed by an ultrasound test, she returned to work the next day as if nothing had happened, because she said she felt nervous to take time off.

“I really struggled to get through the school day, I broke down crying in front of my students and it was really difficult, and no one in my building had any idea what was happening,” Mancinelli said.

Two years later, the Voorhees teacher had an emergency cesarean section after carrying her baby for 33 weeks, but the child only lived for one hour after being born.

Mancinelli was distraught, but under New Jersey law, if a baby dies, the parent is no longer eligible to take family leave time off, because the law stipulates you can only care for another, not yourself.

She used sick time and unpaid leave to take a break from her job and was forced to take a custodial job cleaning classrooms over the summer to make ends meet.

In 2021, she founded Start Healing Together, a nonprofit organization that advocates for workplace rights for grieving families experiencing pregnancy loss, infertility and adoption loss.

“Their worlds are falling apart, the idea of having to return to work just to earn a paycheck to pay bills. It’s really inhumane,” she said.

Mancinelli then worked with Assemblywoman Shanique Speight on legislation to provide bereavement leave for those dealing with this kind of loss.

“If you want that employee to come back strong, you definitely want to give them time to properly grieve,” Speight said.

The measure, which would apply to employees who are eligible for leave under the Family Leave Act, would allow individuals to be able to take time from work to grieve the loss of a child due to death, miscarriage, stillbirth or termination of a pregnancy for medical reasons. Additionally, the bill allows leave for unsuccessful adoption plans and unsuccessful fertility treatments.

“You want to give them time so when they come back they’ll be, possibly not 100%, but they’ll be able to do what needs to be done because you gave them that time,” Speight said.

Start Healing Together represents employees in New Jersey and across the country seeking bereavement leave, paid and unpaid leave options and individualized workplace plans and accommodations.

“We really work as an intermediary on behalf of the grieving parent to ensure that they are supported in every way that they need as an individual,” said Mancinelli. “Anyone experiencing grief knows there is a lot of brain fog and it’s really difficult to function.”

Rutgers University psychology professor Maurice Elias said this legislation is extremely important.

“These losses are so powerful that it’s not reasonable to expect someone to simply come back to the workplace as if nothing had happened, that’s just not reasonable,” he said.

He said dealing with grief is a necessary component of healing, but every individual is different.

“How long does a person need, how much support do they have during the grieving process and how much additional support will they need, all these things are important,” said Elias.

The New Jersey Education Association is supporting the legislation and has created a Take Action page, where state residents can urge lawmakers to pass the measure.

The measure is being considered by the Senate Budget and Appropriations committee and has been passed in the Assembly.