New Jersey Work Injury Lawyer

Workers’ compensation in New Jersey is considered a “no-fault” system. This means that an injured worker does not need to prove that their employer bears any legal fault for the worker’s injury. Instead, an employer is obligated to provide workers’ compensation benefits whenever an employee sustains an injury in the course and scope of employment. However, in exchange for these guaranteed financial benefits, a worker is usually precluded from pursuing a personal injury claim against their employer.

Under certain circumstances, a worker may disqualify themselves from workers’ comp benefits for a work injury, such as when a worker intentionally injures themselves or the injury occurs due to reckless behavior like horseplay or being intoxicated while on duty. 

What Does Workers’ Comp Cover for a Work Injury?

Workers’ compensation provides employees who have suffered a work-related injury with certain defined financial benefits. These benefits may include:

• Medical benefits, which pay for all reasonable and necessary medical treatment, rehabilitation services, and potentially even pain management for a work injury. 
• Temporary disability benefits, which provide partial lost wage replacement up to 70 percent of a worker’s average weekly wage if they cannot work, or 70 percent of the difference between their average weekly wage and reduced wages if they work modified hours or duties during their recovery and earn a reduced income.
• Permanent partial disability benefits, which offer regular payments based on the type and severity of a permanent disability that does not render a worker completely unable to go back to work.
• Permanent total disability benefits, which continue wage replacement benefits indefinitely for as long as a worker remains completely unable to work.
• Death benefits, including temporary partial wage replacement and reimbursement of funeral/burial costs for surviving family members of a worker who dies from a work injury or occupational illness. 

Unfortunately, workers’ compensation does not provide financial recovery for non-economic, personal losses that a worker may suffer due to a work injury, such as physical pain and suffering, emotional trauma and distress, or reduced quality of life or life expectancy. However, if a work injury or occupational illness is caused by the negligence or other legal fault of a third party (someone unconnected to the employer), an employee may be entitled to pursue a personal injury claim against that third party to recover compensation for non-financial losses. But money recovered in a third-party personal injury claim may be subject to a lien to reimburse an employer or its workers’ compensation insurer for some of the benefits paid to an injured employee.