Throughout the holiday season, and even into the New Year, employers show their appreciation for employees by hosting a company holiday party. These events are intended as celebrations and joyful affairs for the company’s employees. Sometimes gifts are exchanged or dinner is provided. Other employers turn their conference room into a winter wonderland, and some rent an event space. One of the biggest decisions is whether or not to include alcohol as part of the party. The festive environment not only increases employee morale and commitment but also encourages co-workers to step away from work and form personal relationships. These parties can be essential to retention and company culture. However, each year in New Jersey several employees leave the office holiday party with injuries. Common Injuries at the Office Holiday Party The office holiday party provides the perfect environment for certain injuries. These parties almost always involve food and drink,
Read MoreBetween 2010 and 2011, New Jersey firefighter Carl E. Larson filed two separate workers compensation claims for two separate work-related injuries. It took until February 2013, but the Paterson City Council in Passaic County eventually approved both of these claims. The total in workers compensation came to over $105,000. In many instances, the approval of the applicable municipal legislature would bring closure to a workers compensation case, but soon after the approval of compensation and benefits, Larson needed to take two days off work, unrelated to injuries or workers compensation. This short leave initiated a chain of events that eventually led to Larson’s retirement from the city’s fire department. As stated in his subsequent lawsuit, this was a retirement that Larson didn’t seek or desire – and in fact, was allegedly forced upon him by the department as retaliation for workers compensation claims in New Jersey. Circumstances for Retaliation for
Read MoreOffices are generally safe and secure places to work in New Jersey. Unlike construction sites and industrial warehouses, you don’t usually encounter heavy machinery or the need for strenuous manual labor, and unlike nursing or other medical professions there is limited lifting, pushing and pulling. Yet, the U.S. Bureau for Labor Statistics estimated that in the finance and insurance industries, professions that typically operate out of traditional office space, one in every 100 employees were injured at work last year. These workplace injuries spanned a surprising range of type and severity. Yet, just as nursing is particularly prone to neck and back injuries, and falls are common to working in construction – certain workplace injuries are more common than others in offices. Office managers, human resources, and upper management can save considerable costs and improve the working environment by proactively addressing the most frequent office injuries. #1: Slips, Trips &
Read MoreIn New Jersey, an employee injured at work should first and foremost tell an employer about the accident, incident or illness. Employers in New Jersey are required to have workers’ compensation insurance that reimburses an employee’s medical expenses and pays benefits after an injury. Once an employer knows about your injury, it has a responsibility to start the claims process with the insurance provider. In most cases, the employer makes the appropriate phone calls to the insurance company and files the correct paperwork. The average employee injured at work in New Jersey encounters very few problems receiving workers’ compensation benefits. In these uncontested situations, an employee may ask initial questions of an attorney regarding what to tell an insurance provider, how to complete required paperwork, and what to expect throughout the process. Employee Injured at Work & Pushback on Workers’ Compensation Other employees receive deferment, delay and denial from their
Read MoreIn New Jersey, there are several procedural and factual barriers that an injured employee must overcome to have a successful workers’ compensation claim. There include providing proper notification of an injury, filing a claim within the required period of time, and bringing a case in the state with proper jurisdiction to determine an outcome. All of these procedural requirements must be met before an injured worker even gets a hearing date. An upcoming case before the New Jersey Supreme Court takes a look at the parameters and requirements for one of these procedural requirements – jurisdiction. The Facts of Williams v. Raymours Furniture Co Inc In August the New Jersey Supreme Court agreed to hear the case of Keith Williams v. Raymours Furniture Co Inc. It is a case that began when Mr. Williams accepted a job back in 2014. Williams lived in New Jersey, and it is from his
Read MoreAfter a work-related injury, the cost of emergency medical treatment, doctor’s visits, physical therapy, medications, and other treatment can be very expensive. As an injured worker sees these costs add up, the importance of a NJ workers’ compensation case simultaneously increases in importance. However, many employees wonder if the expense of recovering these costs through a NJ workers’ compensation case is going to be just another expense of a work injury. After years representing injured employees in NJ workers compensation cases, our workers’ compensation firm is accustomed to answering a variety of cost and expense-related questions. If you are hurt in New Jersey, and weighing whether or not to file a NJ workers compensation case, read on. The most common questions we receive are asked and answered below. What are the Common Costs of a NJ Workers Compensation Case? The typical costs of a NJ workers compensation case depend on
Read MoreWhen it comes to NJ workers’ compensation, many applicable injuries happen in an instant. For example, an employee trips over an extension cord and fractures her arm, or a delivery driver is injured in a motor vehicle accident on his route. While there can be other issues with these claims, it is pretty clear that the incident and resulting injuries were job-related. However, a substantial number of workplace injuries aren’t so clear-cut, for example a repetitive motion injury. When an employee is injured due to a repetitive motion, such as typing on a keyboard for long hours or twisting to sort different components of a product on an assembly line, there is less certainty how and when the injury occurred. In these examples, and hundreds of similar situations in NJ workers’ compensation, evidence of the injury becomes substantially more important. What Is a Repetitive Motion Injury? Repetitive motion injuries are
Read MoreAccording to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics nursing has one of the highest rates of occupational injuries in the United States. In New Jersey, nurses that work in hospitals are more likely to be injured than employees in most other professions. In fact, there are only five jobs more prone to non-fatal injuries than working as a health care professional. While the vast majority of nursing injuries in New Jersey are non-fatal, employees can still incur extensive medical costs seeking treatment. Therefore, the consistent rise in injuries among nurses is of concern to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and certain state agencies. Plus, employees in the medical profession are concerned with the regularity in which nurses are injured. Many people wonder why so many New Jersey nurses are hurt on the job and what to do if they suffer a nursing injury. Nursing Injuries Arise from a
Read MoreIf you are injured playing basketball with friends and fracture your arm, you need health insurance to help cover the medical bills from hospital visit or expenses for other care. Depending on your health insurance plan, there are many in New Jersey, you may pay a certain portion of these expenses “out of pocket.” If you are working as a bartender and fall on the wet floor, fracturing your arm, you are entitled to workers’ compensation to cover the medical expenses. Workers’ compensation is mandated by New Jersey law, but provided through your employer. In New Jersey, nearly all employers are required to have workers’ compensation insurance to cover these incidents. Therefore, a form of insurance also covers these expenses. While these examples show the basic difference between health insurance and workers’ compensation insurance, the questions and interworking of these two insurance plans are much more in-depth. If I am
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