New Jersey Workers Compensation benefits include temporary disability benefits (70% of your salary up to a maximum amount), emergency and authorized medical treatment paid in full, and a monetary compensation based upon a percentage of permanent injury due to Covid 19. Also, there are dependency benefits if there is a death due to Covid 19 to assist the family.
Proposed Legislation to Insure Presumption of Compensability
The Thomas P. Canzanella First Responder Protection Act does not however extend to all Essential Workers. The New Jersey Legislature is proposing to pass legislation that would provide Essential Workers who are infected with Covid 19 with the same benefits as Public Safety workers currently have.
The New Jersey State Senate passed proposed legislation bill S-2380 which would extend the presumption of compensability to Essential Workers infected with Covid 19 corona virus in the course of their employment. This would make denial of Essential Workers Covid 19 cases less likely and open up the Workers Compensation benefits stated above.
The bill was sponsored by State Senate President Stephen M. Sweeney, D-3rd District, and Senators Nicholas P. Scutari, D-22nd District, Robert W. Singer, R-30th District, Linda R. Greenstein, D-14th District, and Nicholas J. Sacco, D-32nd District, The bill was approved on a vote of 27-10-3.
In the State Assembly, an identical bill, A-3999, was introduced sent to the Labor Committee. The bill was sponsored by Deputy Majority Leader Thomas P. Giblin, D-34th District, Deputy Speaker John J. Burzichelli, D-3rd District, Assemblywomen Carol A. Murphy, D-7th District, and Joann Downey, D-11th District, and Assemblyman Jon. M. Bramnick, R-21st District.
9/11 Hardships Spurred Thomas P. Canzanella Act
The New Jersey Legislature in the passage of the Thomas P. Canzanella First Responder Protection Act last year drew on the experiences of residents of New Jersey in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center. Many public safety workers went to Ground Zero to assist in rescue and recovery efforts. Many of these workers were denied Workers Compensation benefits and forced to litigate their claims that their cancers and respiratory diseases were caused by their exposure to fumes and dust in the course of their work. By establishing a presumption of compensability, the Governor and Legislature recognized the importance of public service workers in getting on a timely basis the basic benefits provided under the New Jersey Workers Compensation law. The Legislature in drafting the law could not have imagined the current Covid 19 corona virus pandemic would require more than Public Safety Workers as defined by the statute. The two identical bills seek to extend the benefits to Essential Workers who have ensured that there is access to food and essential goods so that residents can Stay At Home as much as possible.
NJAccident will update our website with additional articles on the Legislation as it moves forward in the legislative process.