Sponsored by:
Assemblywoman CAROL A. MURPHY
District 7 (Burlington)
Assemblyman DANIEL R. BENSON
District 14 (Mercer and Middlesex)
Assemblywoman VERLINA REYNOLDS-JACKSON
District 15 (Hunterdon and Mercer)
Co-Sponsored by:
Assemblymen Verrelli, Conaway, Space, Wirths, Assemblywomen Downey and Swain
SYNOPSIS
Requires employers to provide hiring preference to employees who have reached maximum medical improvement following work related injury.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning employment of injured workers who have reached maximum medical improvement and supplementing chapter 15 of Title 34 of the Revised Statutes (C.34:15-1 et seq.).
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. a. Following a work-related injury, an employer shall provide a hiring preference to an employee who has reached maximum medical improvement and is unable to return to the position at which the employee was previously employed for any existing, unfilled position offered by the employer for which the employee can perform the essential duties of the position.
b. For purposes of this section, “employer” means an employer who employs at least 50 persons.
c. Nothing in this section requires an employer to create a new position to accommodate an employee who cannot return to the employee’s former position following a work-related injury despite reaching maximum medical improvement or requires an employer to remove another employee from an existing and filled position that would be suitable for the injured employee.
d. Nothing in this section shall be construed to impair or affect any right of an individual with a disability to a reasonable accommodation under the “Law Against Discrimination,” P.L.1945, c.169 (C.10:5-1 et seq.).
2. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill requires an employer with at least 50 employees to provide a hiring preference to an employee who was injured in a work-related injury, has reached maximum medical improvement, and cannot return to the employee’s former position with that employer. The employer is only required to provide the hiring preference if the employee can perform the essential duties of an existing, unfilled position.
The bill does not require an employer to create a new position for the injured employee, nor does it require the employer to remove another employee from an existing but filled position to accommodate the injured employee.