New Jersey Work Injury Lawyer

Compassionate Workplace Accident Attorney Advocates for the Rights and Interests of Employees Injured on the Job in NJ

Workplace accidents are unfortunately a common occurrence across New Jersey, with thousands of employees suffering work injuries every single year. The workers’ compensation system under New Jersey law is designed to ensure that employees who sustain work injuries quickly get the financial benefits they need for their medical recovery and to help make up for lost wages if injuries keep them out of work. However, employers and workers’ compensation insurance companies sometimes try to avoid their responsibility to provide workers’ comp benefits to injured employees. When you are having trouble getting the financial benefits and resources you need for a work injury, let a New Jersey work injury lawyer advocate on your behalf to secure the compensation you need to treat your injury, get back to work, and support yourself and your family. 

The legal team led by Daniel Santarsiero, Esq. at New Jersey Workers Compensation Lawyer of JFM Law has defended the rights and interests of injured workers throughout New Jersey for nearly 30 years. Dan has extensive experience pursuing workers’ comp claims, which we put to use on behalf of every client we represent to fight for maximum benefits and to help them make as full a recovery as possible. If your employer or its workers’ compensation insurer is denying or delaying your workers’ comp claim, you need skilled legal advocacy to give you the best chance at successfully recovering the compensation you need and deserve. Dan has been litigating workers’ compensation claims for nearly three decades and is a certified civil trial attorney, a recognition conferred on less than two percent of attorneys in New Jersey that reflects advocacy skill in legal proceedings. 

If you have been injured at work, you may be entitled to receive workers’ compensation benefits to help you recover and get back to work. For answers to the questions you may have about your legal rights and options, reach out to workplace accident attorney Daniel Santarsiero, Esq. at New Jersey Workers Compensation Lawyer for a free initial case evaluation. 

Common Work Accident Injuries That An Experienced New Jersey Work Injury Lawyer Can Help You File A Claim For

Daniel Santarsiero, Esq. at New Jersey Workers Compensation Lawyer leads a team that has a long track record of advocating for the rights and interests of employees across New Jersey who have suffered work injuries such as:

• Catastrophic Injuries
• Work-Related Illnesses
• Toxic Exposure And Lung Cancer Claims
• Strains And Sprains
• Shoulder Injury
• Scaffolding And Ladder Accidents
• RSD (Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy)
• Repetitive Stress Injury
• Pre-Existing Injuries And Workers’ Comp Claims
• Off-Site Work Injuries And Workers’ Comp Claims
• Knee Injuries
• Internal Injuries
• Infections From Injuries At Work
• Head And Brain Injury
• Eye Injuries And Loss Of Vision
• Exposure To Toxic Substances
• Closed-Head Injuries
• Broken Bones
• Back Injuries
• Asbestos Exposure
• Amputations
• Aggravation Or Exacerbation Of Preexisting Conditions
• Nerve damage
• Spinal disc injury
• Facial injuries and scarring
• Traumatic brain injury
• Internal organ injuries and bleeding, including from perforation injuries or crush injuries
• Spinal cord injuries and paralysis
• Occupational illnesses, including repetitive stress injuries, cancers, or diseases caused by viruses or bacteria

When Can You Get Workers’ Compensation for a Work Injury?

In New Jersey, an employee is entitled to benefits from workers’ compensation when they suffer an injury in the course and scope of their employment. A work injury does not need to occur on an employer’s premises. The injury can occur off-premises so long as an employee is engaged in their work duties, such as when visiting a client site or traveling for business. A work injury can even occur outside of normal duty or operational hours while the employee is still present on the employer’s premises.

All employees who work for any form of compensation are entitled to be covered by workers’ compensation. This includes under-18 employees, part-time employees, or seasonal employees. Independent contractors and volunteers may also be eligible for workers’ comp.

Workers’ compensation may also be provided when an employee’s job causes an aggravation of a pre-existing injury or medical condition that the employee suffered from, such as aggravating degenerative disc disease in a work accident. 

Workers’ compensation in New Jersey is considered a “no-fault” system. This means that an injured worker does not need to prove that their employer bears any legal fault for the worker’s injury. Instead, an employer is obligated to provide workers’ compensation benefits whenever an employee sustains an injury in the course and scope of employment. However, in exchange for these guaranteed financial benefits, a worker is usually precluded from pursuing a personal injury claim against their employer.

Under certain circumstances, a worker may disqualify themselves from workers’ comp benefits for a work injury, such as when a worker intentionally injures themselves or the injury occurs due to reckless behavior like horseplay or being intoxicated while on duty. 

What Does Workers’ Comp Cover for a Work Injury?

Workers’ compensation provides employees who have suffered a work-related injury with certain defined financial benefits. These benefits may include:

• Medical benefits, which pay for all reasonable and necessary medical treatment, rehabilitation services, and potentially even pain management for a work injury. 
• Temporary disability benefits, which provide partial lost wage replacement up to 70 percent of a worker’s average weekly wage if they cannot work, or 70 percent of the difference between their average weekly wage and reduced wages if they work modified hours or duties during their recovery and earn a reduced income.
• Permanent partial disability benefits, which offer regular payments based on the type and severity of a permanent disability that does not render a worker completely unable to go back to work.
• Permanent total disability benefits, which continue wage replacement benefits indefinitely for as long as a worker remains completely unable to work.
• Death benefits, including temporary partial wage replacement and reimbursement of funeral/burial costs for surviving family members of a worker who dies from a work injury or occupational illness. 

Unfortunately, workers’ compensation does not provide financial recovery for non-economic, personal losses that a worker may suffer due to a work injury, such as physical pain and suffering, emotional trauma and distress, or reduced quality of life or life expectancy. However, if a work injury or occupational illness is caused by the negligence or other legal fault of a third party (someone unconnected to the employer), an employee may be entitled to pursue a personal injury claim against that third party to recover compensation for non-financial losses. But money recovered in a third-party personal injury claim may be subject to a lien to reimburse an employer or its workers’ compensation insurer for some of the benefits paid to an injured employee. 

The Workers’ Compensation Claims Process in NJ

Under New Jersey’s workers’ compensation system, the claims process begins when an employee notifies their employer that they have suffered a work injury. Employees are required by law to timely notify an employer of a work injury. An employee normally must provide notice within 14 days of sustaining a work injury to be entitled to workers’ comp benefits from the date of injury. However, notice must be given no later than 90 days following a work injury, otherwise, an employee may jeopardize their eligibility for workers’ compensation benefits. Notice may be given to a supervisor, manager, safety or human resources department officer, or another person in a position of authority with an employer. Notice may be given orally, although employees should give written notice to ensure that there is a record. Employers or their workers’ compensation insurers often will have claim forms that employees can fill out to give notice of a work injury.

Once an employer has received notice of an employee’s work injury, the employer is required to file a First Report of Injury with the New Jersey Division of Workers’ Compensation. The Division can help the employer or its insurer calculate the workers’ comp benefits that an injured employee is entitled to.

If an employer denies an employee’s work injury claim, fails or refuses to file a First Report of Injury with the Division, doesn’t pay the full amount of benefits a worker may be entitled to, or stops paying benefits altogether, an injured worker must file a claim petition with the Division. A claim petition must be filed within two years of the date of the work injury, or two years following the last date that workers’ comp benefits were received for a work injury.  A claim petition must also be filed to secure financial benefits for a worker’s permanent injury or disability.

A worker has two options for pursuing a claim petition with the Division:

• Informal claim hearing, where a workers’ compensation judge oversees a mediation-like proceeding, offering non-binding suggestions to help the parties reach a mutually-acceptable resolution
• Formal claim hearing, which is a trial-like proceeding before the workers’ compensation judge where the judge issues a binding ruling after the conclusion of the hearing

If an injured worker is dissatisfied with the workers’ compensation judge’s ruling in a formal claim hearing and believes the judge may have made a procedural or legal error during the proceeding, they can appeal to the New Jersey Superior Court’s Appellate Division.

How Can a New Jersey Work Injury Lawyer Help You Recover the Benefits You Need?

While workers’ compensation is intended to provide employees with guaranteed benefits for a work injury, employers and their workers’ compensation insurers do not always immediately begin providing the benefits an injured worker deserves. If you are having trouble obtaining workers’ comp benefits from your employer after a work injury, New Jersey workplace accident attorney Daniel Santarsiero, Esq. at New Jersey Workers Compensation Lawyer of The Law Offices of Jonathan F. Marshall can help you with your workers’ compensation claim by:

• Investigating the facts and circumstances of your work injury, including recovering evidence from the workplace accident needed to show that you were injured on the job.
• Working with your treating providers and other medical experts to persuasively explain how your injuries are connected to your job, as well as the extent of the injuries and disabilities that you have suffered.
• Calculating your average wages to ensure that you are being paid the correct amount of workers’ comp benefits.
• Taking the time to go over your rights and options with you so that you understand what to expect in your case. 
• Negotiating with your employer and its insurer to secure benefits for you after a work injury, including negotiating a workers’ compensation settlement if appropriate for your individual situation. 
• Filing a claim petition with the Division of Workers’ Compensation when your employer or its insurer has denied your workers’ comp claim or isn’t paying you the benefits you are entitled to. 
• Advocating for your rights and interest during claim hearings, or appealing an adverse decision against you to the courts if necessary. 

Reach out to a New Jersey Work Injury Lawyer for a Consultation about Your Legal Rights and Options

After you have suffered a work injury, don’t wait to get the legal help you need to secure workers’ compensation benefits that can help you with your recovery. Contact Daniel Santarsiero, Esq. at New Jersey Workers Compensation Lawyer today for a free, no-obligation case review to discuss what a New Jersey workplace injury lawyer from our firm can do to assist you in your workers’ comp claim. 

Frequently Asked Questions about Work Injury Claims in NJ