ASSEMBLY, No. 448

 

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

 

Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel

 

PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 1996 SESSION

 

 

By Assemblyman ROMA

 

 

An Act concerning the enforcement of the workers' compensation law and amending R.S.34:15-79 and supplementing chapter 15 of Title 34 of the Revised Statute.

 

    Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:

 

    1. R.S.34:15-79 is amended to read as follows:

            34:15-79. An employer who [willfully] fails to provide the protection prescribed in this article shall be guilty of a disorderly persons offense and shall be guilty of a crime of the fourth degree if such failure is willful. In cases where a workers' compensation award in the Division of Workers' Compensation of New Jersey against the defendant is not paid at the time of the sentence, the court may suspend sentence upon that defendant and place him on probation for any period with an order to pay the delinquent compensation award to the claimant through the probation office of the county. Where the employer is a corporation, the president, secretary, and the treasurer thereof who are actively engaged in the corporate business shall be liable for failure to secure the protection prescribed by this article. Any contractor placing work with a subcontractor shall, in the event of the subcontractor's failing to carry workers' compensation insurance as required by this article, become liable for any compensation which may be due an employee or the dependents of a deceased employee of a subcontractor. The contractor shall then have a right of action against the subcontractor for reimbursement.

    Failure to produce at the time of the trial proof of workers' compensation insurance coverage by a mutual association or stock company authorized to write coverage on such risks in this State or written authorization by the Commissioner of Insurance to self-insure for workers' compensation pursuant to R.S.34:15-77, which was in force for the time cited by the Department of Labor, creates a rebuttable presumption that the employer was uninsured when charged with a violation of this section.

    All fines collected under the terms of this section shall be paid to the State Treasurer and credited on the records of the State Comptroller to the account of the Division of Vocational Rehabilitation Services in the Department of Labor, to be used in carrying out the provisions of P.L.1955, c.64 (C.34:16-20 et seq.).

    The Director of the Division of Workers' Compensation, or any officer or employee of the division designated by him, upon finding that an employer has failed for a period of not less than 10 consecutive days to make the provisions for payment of compensation required by R.S.34:15-71 and R.S.34:15-72, [may] shall impose upon that employer, in addition to all other penalties, fines or assessments provided for in chapter 15 of Title 34 of the Revised Statutes or in any supplement thereto, an assessment in the amount of up to $1,000.00 and when the period exceeds 20 days, an additional assessment of up to $1,000.00 for each period of 10 days thereafter. All assessments under this act shall be [collectible in a court of competent jurisdiction in a summary civil proceeding and] enforced and collected in accordance with section 12 of P.L.1966, c.126 (C.34:15-120.3). All penalties and assessments collected under this section shall be paid into the "uninsured employer's fund."

(cf: P.L.1988, c.25, s.13)

 

    2. (New section) a. On or before March 1, 1996 and thereafter, the Compensation Rating and Inspection Bureau shall notify all mutual associations and stock companies authorized to write workers' compensation or employer's liability insurance on risks located in this State of the requirements of subsections b. and c. of this section.

    b. On and after July 1, 1996, all mutual associations and stock companies authorized to write workers' compensation or employer's liability policies on risks located in this State shall, upon application for new policies or renewal of any existing policies, require submission of the employer identification number as assigned by the Department of Labor pursuant to the provisions of the "unemployment compensation law," R.S.43:21-1 et seq., by each employer and shall maintain the identification number in their records and shall include the identification number on policies of insurance to be filed with the Compensation Rating and Inspection Bureau.

    If the employer has been exempted from or is otherwise not subject to the provisions of the "unemployment compensation law," the mutual association or stock company writing workers' compensation insurance or employer's liability insurance coverage on risks of that employer shall, in a form and manner prescribed by the Department of Labor, assign an identification number to that employer.

    If an employer fails or refuses to comply with the reporting requirements of this subsection, the mutual association or stock company shall immediately notify the Division of Workers' Compensation of such failure or refusal. Failure or refusal without reasonable cause shall result in the assessment of a penalty of up to $1,000 for each failure or refusal which shall be enforceable on a petition filed by the "uninsured employer's fund" in a summary proceeding before a judge of compensation upon notice to the employer and the proceeds of which shall be paid into the "uninsured employer's fund."

    c. On and after July 1, 1996 the Compensation Rating and Inspection Bureau shall record and maintain the employer identification numbers received from mutual associations and stock companies pursuant to subsection b. of this section. The bureau shall, upon request of the Division of Workers' Compensation, provide to the division information, in a form and manner as prescribed by the division, with respect to the workers' compensation or employer's liability insurance coverage status of employers in this State, including the employer identification numbers.

    d. On or before March 1, 1996 the Department of Insurance shall provide to the Division of Workers' Compensation a complete list of all employers engaged in business in this State who have been authorized, pursuant to the provisions of R.S.34:15-77 et seq., to self-insure for the payment of compensation. After that date, the department shall continue to provide notification to the division, in a form and manner as prescribed by the division, of any newly approved self-insured employer or the recision of the authority for any previously approved employer to self-insure.

 

    3. This act shall take effect immediately.

 

 

STATEMENT

 

    This bill provides for a verification system to identify those employers who fail to obtain workers' compensation coverage. It provides for the identification of employers who are not insured for workers' compensation by cross-referencing the records of the Compensation and Inspection Bureau in the Department of Insurance, which has a record of employers with workers' compensation, with employer records of the Department of Labor.

    The bill requires all workers' compensation insurers to include an employer identification number (which shall be assigned by the Department of Labor) on policies of insurance to be filed with the Compensation Rating and Inspection Bureau. For those employers who are exempt from the unemployment insurance law but have workers' compensation coverage, an employer identification number would be assigned. The Compensation Rating and Inspection Bureau would record the employer identification numbers received from insurers. The Department of Insurance would also provide the Division of Workers' Compensation a complete list of employers who are self-insured for workers' compensation. This employer information would then be cross-referenced with the employer list in the Department of Labor.

    The law currently provides that an employer who "willfully" fails to carry workers' compensation coverage is guilty of a crime of the fourth degree. This bill maintains that provision but provides as a lesser offense that an employer who fails to carry workers' compensation is guilty of a disorderly persons offense.

    The bill also provides that failure to produce proof of workers' compensation coverage at the time of the trial of an employer accused of being uninsured creates a rebuttable presumption that the employer was uninsured.

    The current law provides that the Director of the Division of Workers' Compensation may levy an assessment of $1,000 on an employer who has failed to make provisions for the payment of workers' compensation for 10 or more consecutive days and when the period exceeds 20 days, an assessment of $1,000 for each period of 10 days thereafter. The bill makes these provisions mandatory and changes the assessment amounts from $1,000 to up to $1,000.

    

Provides for cross-check of employer identification number to find employers without workers' compensation coverage.