Proposed bill offers workers’ compensation protection to freelancers
An increasing number of New Jersey residents are opting to work for companies as freelancers. State legislators have responded by recommending a new set of labor laws to help make certain that freelancers are treated justly and are compensated in a timely manner. In a measure that was sanctioned by the Assembly Appropriations Committee, agreements […]
The duty of an employer to its injured employees
The New Jersey Law Against Discrimination (NJLAD) forbids discrimination in the workplace. Even though the NJLAD does not clearly address reasonable accommodation, New Jersey courts have ruled that the law mandates that employers reasonably accommodate employees’ disabilities. Additionally, the Department of Law and Public Safety regulations require that employers reasonably accommodate the limitations of an […]
Potential loss of unemployment benefits for workers who change jobs
Last year the New Jersey Supreme Court said it would hear the state’s appeal in the matter of a worker who was awarded unemployment benefits after she left one job for another that offered greater compensation, only to later discover that the second job was no longer available. As the New Jersey Law Journal reported, […]
Link between repetitive stress injury and your job
If you are afflicted with a repetitive stress injury (RSI), or a wear and tear injury, it may have been caused by your job. According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), there are more than 100 various kinds of injuries (RSIs) that can take place at work. Actually, most work-related injuries are RSIs, […]
Workers’ compensation benefits for contracting the flu at work
Last year saw an epidemic of the flu. The flu was so severe, that it impacted the occupational health arena, and produced challenges that were unanticipated by those who drafted the workers’ compensation acts in New Jersey. The flu epidemic, forced offices and schools to close or reduce operations, and illness and deaths in the […]
Studies show that standing desks are not beneficial to workers’ health
A recent study indicates that the use of standing workstations and treadmills by employers to aid in the prevention of repetitive motion claims, is nothing more than an ineffective trend. Such workstations are said to be ergonomically safer for the health of employees. They have been praised as a way in which to improve posture […]
Study shows long-term opioid prescription may increase recovery time of lower back injuries
According to a recent study conducted by the Workers’ Compensation Research Institute (WCRI), prescribing opioids for a longer period of time can significantly increase the length of temporary disability among workers who suffer work-related lower back injuries. Temporary disability is the time that workers spend outside of work recuperating from the injuries they sustained at […]
Employees v. independent contractors and their rights to workers’ compensation
Climbing trees to clear utility lines or trim dead limbs can be dangerous. A man fell 30 feet out of a tree while trimming trees in Mahwah, New Jersey. To obtain compensation in New Jersey, employees need to be categorized as either an employee or an independent contractor. The Mahwah tree cutter worked for a […]
Judge orders public employer to pay for injured worker’s marijuana
A workers’ compensation judge in New Jersey ordered Freehold Township to reimburse a public employee for his marijuana. While this was the first time a workers’ compensation judge in New Jersey ordered a public employer to reimburse an injured worker for medical marijuana, a New Jersey workers’ compensation judge previously ordered a private employer to […]
Court rules employee gets compensation after accident during commute leaves him injured
An employee’s drive to work can be considered compensable, the Appellate Division of the Superior Court of New Jersey ruled in a unique, unreported case. During a snowstorm, Friends Village at Woodstown kitchen worker Antoine Minter alerted his supervisor, the executive chef, that he would not be able to make his shift because Minter’s regular […]