Employer Responsible For Payment of Counsel Fees On Penalty

"... a judge of compensation must award counsel fees in addition to a penalty when an employer fails to make timely payment of temporary disability benefits and the appropriate standard to fashion the reasonable attorneys' fees allowed by statute. We hold that an award of attorneys' fees is mandatory and the judge of compensation is not limited by the statutory formula governing fee awards following an award of benefits. See N.J.S.A. 34:15-64.

"...a petitioner who resorts to section 28.1 to force payment of temporary disability benefits receives not only the 25% penalty but also reasonable legal fees incurred "as a result of and in relation to [the] delay[ ] or refusal[ ]." The fee is not subject to the 20% limitation of section 64, and shall be calculated in accordance with the standard factors for constructing a fee award.


Petitioner was represented by NJ Super Lawyer, David Tykulsker, Esq.

KUBRA QUERESHI - v. CINTAS CORPORATION, 

--- A.2d ----, 2010 WL 2132441 (N.J.Super.A.D.), Decided My 28, 2010. Click here to read more about penalties. Click here to read more about workers' compensation claims.

NJ Aims to Speed up Uninsured Penalties

The NJ Legislature is considering speeding up the processing of penalties and assessments against uninsured employers. Bills are pending before both houses of the legislature.


"This bill amends the workers’ compensation law to require that the Director of Workers’ Compensation shall, in any case in which an award of compensation payable by an uninsured employer or an assessment has been ordered by the director, file with the Clerk of the Superior Court a statement of the findings and judgment of the workers’ compensation judge or a certified copy of the director's order.  Upon that filing, the statement or order, as the case may be, shall have the same effect and may be collected and docketed in the same manner as judgments rendered in causes tried in the Superior Court.


"Under current law, the director is not permitted to make the filing until 45 days after payment is due and 10 days after the uninsured employer fails to comply with any demand to deposit with the director the estimated value of the compensation, and 20 days after orders by the director to pay any assessments for failure to pay.  The bill requires, rather than permits, the director to make the filing, and requires that the filing be made without the delays currently imposed.

Identical Bill Number: S2495    Quijano, Annette   as Primary Sponsor Barnes, Peter J., III   as Primary Sponsor Moriarty, Paul D.   as Primary Sponsor Egan, Joseph V.   as Co-Sponsor Diegnan, Patrick J., Jr.   as Co-Sponsor Vas, Joseph   as Co-Sponsor
1/15/2009 Introduced, Referred to Assembly Labor Committee 1/26/2009 Reported out of Assembly Committee, 2nd Reading 5/21/2009 Passed by the Assembly (76-0-0) 5/21/2009 Received in the Senate without Reference, 2nd Reading Statement - ALA 1/26/09 - 1 pages PDF Format    HTML Format Introduced - 3 pages PDF Format    HTML Format Committee Voting: ALA  1/26/2009  -  r/favorably  -  Yes {9}  No {0}  Not Voting {0}  Abstains {0}  -  Roll Call Egan, Joseph V. (C) - Yes Evans, Elease (V) - Yes Dancer, Ronald S. - Yes DeAngelo, Wayne P. - Yes Doherty, Michael J. - Yes Oliver, Sheila Y. - Yes Quijano, Annette - Yes Scalera, Frederick - Yes Webber, Jay - Yes Session Voting: Asm.  5/21/2009  -  3RDG FINAL PASSAGE   -  Yes {76}  No {0}  Not Voting {4}  Abstains {0}  -  Roll Call Addiego, Dawn Marie - Yes Albano, Nelson T. - Yes Amodeo, John F. - Yes Angelini, Mary Pat - Yes Barnes, Peter J., III - Yes Biondi, Peter J. - Yes Bramnick, Jon M. - Yes Burzichelli, John J. - Yes Caputo, Ralph R. - Yes Carroll, Michael Patrick - Yes Casagrande, Caroline - Yes Chiappone, Anthony - Yes Chiusano, Gary R. - Yes Chivukula, Upendra J. - Yes Conaway, Herb, Jr. - Yes Conners, Jack - Yes Coutinho, Albert - Yes Coyle, Denise M. - Yes Cruz-Perez, Nilsa - Yes Cryan, Joseph - Yes Dancer, Ronald S. - Yes DeAngelo, Wayne P. - Yes DeCroce, Alex - Yes DiMaio, John - Yes Diegnan, Patrick J., Jr. - Yes Doherty, Michael J. - Yes Egan, Joseph V. - Not Voting Evans, Elease - Yes Giblin, Thomas P. - Yes Green, Jerry - Yes Greenstein, Linda R. - Yes Greenwald, Louis D. - Yes Gusciora, Reed - Yes Handlin, Amy H. - Yes Holzapfel, James W. - Yes Jasey, Mila M. - Yes Johnson, Gordon M. - Yes Lampitt, Pamela R. - Yes Love, Sandra - Not Voting Malone, Joseph R., III - Yes McHose, Alison Littell - Yes McKeon, John F. - Yes Merkt, Richard A. - Yes Milam, Matthew W. - Yes Moriarty, Paul D. - Yes Munoz, Nancy F. - Yes O'Scanlon, Declan J., Jr. - Yes Oliver, Sheila Y. - Yes Polistina, Vincent J. - Yes Pou, Nellie - Yes Prieto, Vincent - Yes Quigley, Joan M. - Yes Quijano, Annette - Yes Ramos, Ruben J., Jr. - Yes Rible, David P. - Yes Riley, Celeste M. - Yes Roberts, Joseph J., Jr. - Yes Rodriguez, Caridad - Yes Rooney, John E. - Yes Rudder, Scott - Yes Rumana, Scott T. - Yes Rumpf, Brian E. - Not Voting Russo, David C. - Yes Scalera, Frederick - Yes Schaer, Gary S. - Yes Smith, L. Harvey - Yes Spencer, L. Grace - Yes Stender, Linda - Yes Thompson, Samuel D. - Yes Tucker, Cleopatra G. - Yes Vainieri Huttle, Valerie - Yes Van Pelt, Daniel M. - Yes Vandervalk, Charlotte - Yes Vas, Joseph - Not Voting Voss, Joan M. - Yes Wagner, Connie - Yes Watson Coleman, Bonnie - Yes Webber, Jay - Yes Wisniewski, John S. - Yes Wolfe, David W. - Yes

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Click here to read more about uninsured  employers and workers' compensation.

New Jersey's New Workers' Compensation Enforcement Statute

Governor Corzine has now signed into law a new enforcement statute for workers' compensation coverage in New Jersey. The law amend NJSA 34:15-79 and allows the Director of the Division of Workers' Compensation a stop-work order and impose penalties of between $1,000 to $5,000 per day for non-compliance.

The broad legislation makes it a violation for an employer to misrepresent the status of an employee as an "independent contractor" or to knowingly provide misleading, incomplete or false information.

The Division is in the process of promulgating administrative rules and regulations for implementation of this legislation.