Rates of compensation for full and Part Time employees
Posted by
Carter CorristonNovember 26, 2007 4:13 PM Workers who are injured while at the workplace become eligible for payment for lost income if the injury prevents them form working in accordance with New Jersey Workers Compensation laws. The rate of compensation is 70% of the worker's actual wage subject to statutory minimums and maximums, which are adjusted yearly.
Part time employee who may be unable to perform work for other employers are not eligible to receive temporary benefits based on any other lost employment. They may, however, be eligible for State disability benefits for any other employment they are unable to perform.
It is important to remember that if the part time employee is eligible for an award of permanent disability because of their injury then their rate of compensation for the permanent injury may be adjusted, or reconstructed, to reflect a wage they would have received as if they were working full time. By example say worker X is hurt while working part time at big box store we will call "Orange" and her wage is $10.00 per hour for 20 hours. The temporary rate would then be $140.00 per week until she were returned to work by the authorized treating physician ($200.00 x .70). However, if worker X were eligible for a permanent disability award for the same injury she may be entitled to a reconstructed rate of $400.00 per week for these purposes ($10.00 x 40 hours). Therefore, the maximum rate for a permanency award would be $280.00 per week instead of the $190.00 per week statutory minimum. If the worker were to receive 200 weeks of permanent disability payments this would result in an $18,000.00 difference in the award between the two rates. Therefore, it is important to tell your attorney all the facts surrounding your employment, whether it is full or part time.
This example assumes worker X would meet the criteria for a reconstructed rate, the details of which are too great to fully explore in this forum.
For more information on this subject, please refer to the section on Workers Compensation.