New Jersey Workers’ Compensation covers all municipal, county, state, and private employees, and certain classes of volunteers, such as firefighters and rescue squad drivers.
Postal workers, federal workers, longshoremen, railroad workers, and other types of non-state governmental workers have their own separate workers’ compensation law and they are not handled in the New Jersey Workers’ Compensation system.
Are All Employers Required To Carry Workers’ Compensation Insurance In New Jersey?
Everyone but a sole proprietor with no employees is required to have workers’ compensation insurance and an employer’s failure to maintain workers’ compensation insurance can result in severe financial penalties and assessments against the employer.
The officers of the employer can be held personally liable. Unfortunately, there are some employers who fail to maintain workers’ compensation insurance and this can result in a devastating impact on the injured worker.
There is a New Jersey state entity known as the Uninsured Fund that will pay for medical benefits and temporary disability benefits for an employee injured while working for an uninsured employer.
This process is time consuming and rather inefficient.
What Is A Compensable Injury Under New Jersey’s Workers Compensation Law?
We have two recognized claims under New Jersey workers’ compensation law. The first and the most common is a specific accident or traumatic injury claim.
You can identify it by an exact time, location, and date. For example, someone falling off a ladder or slipping on ice or getting into a car accident would be a specific accident claim.
There is another type of claim called an occupational claim, which involves exposure to your work environment in causing injury. For example, an administrative assistant who types frequently over the course of time may develop carpal tunnel syndrome and require medical treatment.
If you can prove that the work effort resulted in the carpal tunnel syndrome, the administrative assistant would have a workers’ compensation claim.
You also will find occupational claims, if there has been exposure to harmful chemicals and airborne substances in the work environment that caused pulmonary disability or other internal injuries. That type of claim is also referred to as an occupational claim and may be covered under the New Jersey Workers’ Compensation law.
What Steps Should I Take If I Get Injured At Work In New Jersey?
You must immediately report your specific accident to a supervisor or your employer if you are injured at work. There are strict time provisions in the law and the employer needs to be promptly notified.
If you fail to report an injury within 90 days, you may be precluded from pursuing a workers’ compensation claim. The reason there is a provision in the law for the timing is to afford the employer and the insurance company time to investigate the injury.
If they can’t perform a timely investigation, they may not be able to make the right determination. The law wants the employee to properly notify the employer of an injury and it has to be someone in a supervisory capacity. Your employer has to be aware of the injury.
For more information on Sectors Covered By NJ Workers’ Comp Laws, an initial consultation is your next best step. Get the information and legal answers you are seeking by calling (609) 771-8611 today.
