Returning back to work after an injury can be a nerve wracking experience. You know that your employer’s interests and your interests may not be aligned. Yet if you don’t return to work when you are cleared to do so you jeopardize your job, your workers compensation benefits, and any unemployment benefits you could receive if, for whatever reason, your job disappears through no fault of your own. Here’s what you need to know. You have the right to have your restrictions respected. Talk to your doctor about what your old job entailed so that he can make the most useful list of restrictions possible. We recommend getting a written acknowledgement from your employer to indicate that they understand these restrictions and are able to work with them.  Make sure you get them in writing. Carry copies of the restrictions with you. Don’t be afraid to hand them to your

For the most part, workers compensation benefits are not taxed either by New Jersey or by the IRS. Even the amounts meant to replace income are not counted as taxable income.  Here’s what you need to know. Do you still report workers compensation on your tax returns? No. Unless you meet one of the taxable exceptions listed below, you do not even have to report your workers compensation payouts.  It’s always a good idea to speak to an accountant before making assumptions, but you’re not even going to receive a tax form that tells you these benefits have been reported to the IRS.  Are there taxable exceptions? There are a few taxable exceptions.  For example, some of our clients have ended up with workers compensation claims that were, at first, denied. So they paid their own medical expenses, claimed those on their tax return, and then later got reimbursed. They

Getting into a car accident is always stressful, whether you’re driving a company vehicle or not. It’s easy to do things which could come back to bite you later. Yet if you keep your cool, you should be protected and covered regardless of whether or not you were at-fault for the accident. You were on the job, which means you’re covered by workers compensation law. Avoid Admitting Fault You aren’t personally liable when you’re in a car accident on the job. Your employer is liable. New Jersey is also a no-fault state for car accidents, which means each party’s liability insurance company pays the other.  Nevertheless, employers have a way of making things interesting. For example, if you’re a trucker you might want to be prepared for your employer to suddenly declare you an independent contractor. You don’t want to set yourself up for liability in this case. They may

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, over 5,000 workers die on the job every year, leaving their survivors to carry on without them.  When your spouse dies on the job you, the surviving spouse, may be entitled to a workers compensation death benefit. As with workers compensation for surviving injured and disabled workers, the death benefit system exists in New Jersey to provide for families while protecting employers from the possibility of a personal injury lawsuit. This means you may get some money to support your family while you adjust to the loss of your loved one. Who is eligible for death benefits? In general, you may only claim a death benefit if you are the surviving, actively married spouse of a worker who died on the job, or a dependant child who lived in the worker’s household at the time of death. Surviving children may also qualify as

A workers compensation settlement isn’t like a personal injury settlement. There are typically some limits on how much it can pay out.  Nevertheless, you’ll rely on that settlement to live. It behooves you to do what you can to make it as large as possible. Here’s what you need to do. Be careful what you say. You have to report your injury to your employer, but stick only to the facts. Later, you might want to talk to an attorney right away, because the workers compensation insurance adjuster may try to speak to you and may try to trip you up while they do. When you do have to speak about your injury or write about it, be concise. Make sure your statements are factual and to the point.  Don’t give unlimited medical authorizations. The medical authorization you sign should specifically state that you are only releasing medical records related

In some accident and injury cases it is necessary to prove the other party was negligent before you can recover any form of compensation. This is not the case in a New Jersey workers compensation case. Instead, it is only necessary to prove that the injury or illness arose as a result of your activities and presence in the workplace.  This is part of the bargain that was made between New Jersey workers and employers when the workers compensation system first came into existence. Workers would lose the right to sue employers for negligence and employers would pay for injuries and illnesses sustained at work regardless of whether or not the employee played a role in causing those injuries. As always when the law is involved, there are of course both complications and exceptions that you should be aware of. Exception #1 – You Were in Violation of Certain Policies

A Section 20 is one of two types of settlements that may be awarded in a New Jersey worker’s compensation case. The other type is called a Section 22. Here’s what you need to know about both types of settlement. Section 22 Settlements A Section 22 settlement is a settlement wherein the employer pays for a portion of your disability. The percentage would be a percentage of what would be paid out for a body part over time, i.e., 30% of the knee, with amounts set by the New Jersey body part schedule. In a Section 22 settlement the employer does admit that the injury to that body part happened on the job. A Section 22 does allow for the modification of claims as necessary  Section 20 Settlements A Section 20 is a one-time lump sum payment and is considered a full and final dismissal of the claim. You accept

A “reopener” is an informal term for a modification of a workers compensation claim. Either party can request a modification after a workers compensation claim settles. No party has an unlimited right to reopen a workers compensation claim. The modification may only be requested up to two years after the last time compensation was paid, or from the date of an awarded Judgement. When may an employee reopen a workers compensation claim? An employee may reopen a workers compensation claim when one of the following is true: They need additional treatment for the same work-related injury. They have lost additional time as a result of the same work-related injury. They need an increase to the amount of permanent partial disability that they’re receiving. In other words, somewhere along the way your condition got worse. This can happen even if you’ve reached maximum minimal improvement (MMI) as MMI is a measure

Your doctor has restricted you to limited work hours, or has given you specific work restrictions which indicate how much lifting, walking, or other actions you may take on the job. In many cases an employer will offer you “light duty” work while you continue to recover.  In most cases you have no choice but to accept a light duty post. Yet that does not mean you do  not have rights when you go on light duty. Here’s what you need to know. #1) You may be entitled to vocational training. If an employer tries to assign you to a light duty role that you are not qualified for you may have to take it, but your employer may also be obligated to train you for it so that you can do the job. The employer can not put you into a job you have no idea how to do