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WHAT ARE TEMPORARY TOTAL DISABILITY (TTD) BENEFITS?
One of the key benefits of the New Jersey Workers Compensation system is the temporary replacement of wages lost due to a work accident. This wage benefit provides a financial foundation for the injured worker while receiving medical care and being placed out of work by an authorized physician. This benefit is a substitute for your wage income.
In short, you receive payment because you cannot work due to an on-the-job accident. This is a critical protection for the injured worker. The insurance company, moreover, can face fines for non-compliance. Limitations exist though on the eligibility, amount, and duration of the benefit.
What Is The Required Waiting Period Before Benefits Begin?
The injured employee does not receive the wage benefit until after a designated waiting period expires from the date of the accident. There is a requirement of more than 7 days of time off work due to work-related injury. Once the 7-day period is met, the benefit is retroactive. As such, the benefit covers day one of time off work onward. The benefit lasts while the worker receives medical care. And also is unable to perform light duty if offered by the employer.
How To Calculate Your Weekly Benefit Rate?
Your weekly benefit rate is a determined from the following steps:
- First, the New Jersey work injury law sets a maximum and minimum amount for the payment of TTD benefits. The amount adjusts annually and applies across the board for all injured workers. For the year 2022, the temporary disability rate for workers hurt on the job is a maximum of $1,065.00 per week and a minimum of $284.00 per week. The chart below summarizes the range of weekly benefit rates for the given year:
- Second, the injured workers actual wage rate establishes a gross average weekly wage for the date of the injury. The question is: What is the injured worker paid in an average work week? Employees who receive varying rates from week to week typically rely on a 26-week (6 month) average for a gross weekly rate. The gross weekly rate includes bonuses and tips. Alternatively, an hourly rate approach may better reflect the true average in some circumstances. This is particularly true of part-time or seasonal employment.
- Third, the injured workers wage benefit is 70% of the gross weekly rate subject to the maximum and minimum amounts for the year of injury. The benefit is generally tax-free at the state and federal level.
- Fourth, the total number of days out of work must be counted and multiplied by 70% of the average weekly wage.
How Long Can An Injured Worker Be On Temporary Disability?
New Jersey workers comp law sets forth a 400-week maximum for the receipt of wage benefits. That is approximately 7 and a half years of benefits as the maximum. The limitation applies even if the worker is unable to return to the job after the expiration of 400 weeks.
Most work injury matters however do not involve the payment of wage benefits for 400 weeks as the benefit can end, for example, upon:
- An authorized medical provider declares the worker is at maximum medical improvement (MMI) for the injury
- The worker returns to work
- The employer offers a light-duty assignment to the worker after the worker is medically cleared for light duty
What If The Employer Does Not Pay The Required Wage Benefits?
The timely receipt of your wage benefit is crucial. After all, it is serving as a replacement for the income lost while you recover. Delay of benefits can occur through negligence of the insurance carrier or employer to process your claim. Or, in some cases, bad faith efforts to deny you benefits.
There is a solution. A Judge of Compensation can award a fine of up to 25% of the amount due in wage benefits in this situation. Reasonable legal fees are also recoverable. That is legal fees for the time and effort of your attorney to enforce the statute requiring the payment of wage benefits.
Call On A Knowledgeable New Jersey Workers Comp Attorney
After a workplace accident, the focus should be on medical recovery. But life does not stop because of an on-the-job accident. Your day-to-day financial obligations remain in place. The anxiety is normal. Place trust in a hard-working attorney to take some of the burdens off your shoulders. Last but not least, our contact number is (856) 596-8000.
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