SENATE, No. 1885
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
INTRODUCED MARCH 10, 1997
By Senator MARTIN
An Act concerning sick leave and amending N.J.S.18A:30-2.1.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. N.J.S. 18A:30-2.1 is amended to read as follows:
18A:30-2.1. a. Whenever any employee, entitled to sick leave under this chapter, is absent from his post of duty as a result of a personal injury caused by an accident arising out of and in the course of his employment, his employer shall pay to such employee the full salary or wages for the period of such absence for up to one calendar year without having such absence charged to the annual sick leave or the accumulated sick leave provided in [sections] N.J.S.18A:30-2 and N.J.S.18A:30-3. Salary or wage payments provided in this section shall be made for absence during the waiting period and during the period the employee received or was eligible to receive a temporary disability benefit under chapter 15 of Title 34 [, Labor and Workmen's Compensation,] of the Revised Statutes. Any amount of salary or wages paid or payable to the employee pursuant to this section shall be reduced by the amount of any [workmen's] workers' compensation award made for temporary disability.
b. If an employee, entitled to sick leave under this chapter, receives a temporary disability benefit under chapter 15 of Title 34 of the Revised Statutes for a period of disability occurring within one calendar year of the date of the personal injury or first absence resulting from the personal injury for which the employee is entitled to receive benefits pursuant to subsection a. of this section, the judge of compensation shall include in the decision, award, determination and rule for judgment or the order approving settlement, a provision compelling the employer to pay all salary or wages due the employee and restore all annual sick leave or accumulated sick leave charged to the employee, as required pursuant to subsection a. of this section.
The provision shall be binding on the parties and shall be enforceable in the same manner as a judgment of the Superior Court.
(cf: N.J.S.18A:30-2.1)
2. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
The purpose of this bill is to simplify the procedure for school employees who are injured in accidents covered pursuant to N.J.S.18A:30-2.1 to receive their full salary for the calendar year period provided for by that statute and to correct their sick leave accounts when sick leave is incorrectly charged to their annual or accumulated sick leave. Under present practice, a party seeking sick leave benefits under N.J.S.18A:30-2.1 must file a petition with the Commissioner of Education within the 90-day limitation of N.J.A.C.6:24-1.2 and then file a claim with the Division of Workers' Compensation. The petition may then be held in abeyance while the employee's entitlement to temporary disability is determined by the Division of Workers' Compensation. Pursuant to decisions of the Commissioner of Education and the State Board of Education, if the Division of Workers' Compensation rules in the employee's favor, the employee as a matter of law is entitled to receive his full salary for one calendar year, and restoration of annual and accumulated sick leave. This bill would simplify and economize the procedure and spare both parties the unnecessary and wasteful expense of potentially having to resort or return to the commissioner to litigate the employee's entitlement, since the entitlement would be definitively established by the decision, award, determination and rule for judgment or the order approving settlement.
Requires a provision in workers' compensation awards compelling school boards to pay additional salary and restore sick leave for certain injured employees.