January 25, 2024
New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy recently signed into law two bills that will expand the state’s workers’ compensation laws for certain first responders. Senate Bill No. 4267 was amended to “add members of a volunteer first aid or rescue squad to the list of individuals that are covered by the presumptions of compensability when injury or death occurs while remediating from an emergency.” Furthermore, the bill “expands the individuals that are covered by the presumption to include any career emergency medical technicians and paramedics employed by the state, a county, a municipality, or a private sector counterpart who is engaged in public emergency medical and rescue services.”
Likewise, Assembly Bill No. 5909 revised “workers’ compensation coverage for certain injuries to certain volunteer and professional public safety and law enforcement personnel.” It also expands the first responders eligible for workers’ compensation benefits and ensures they are compensated in the event of injury or death while fulfilling their duties.
CLM member Andrew J. Heck, attorney at law in the New Jersey office of New York-based Wilson Elser Moskowitz Edelman & Dicker LLP, states, “The removal of the requirement that a covered individual be responding under orders from competent authority, along with the inclusion of career EMTs and paramedics, will result in a greater number of claims being found compensable.
“It is hard to argue against these being appropriate expansions of coverage from a public policy perspective—as demonstrated by the unanimous passage of the legislation. The updates also enumerate rebuttal factors to overcome the statutory presumption of compensability, which should streamline litigated claims, resulting in reduced litigation expense for the parties, more efficient allocation of the [Division of Workers’ Compensation’s] resources, and a speedier ultimate resolution.”