New Jersey Workers’ Compensation Guide 2026
Understand injury reporting, authorized medical care, temporary benefits, disputes, formal filing, permanent disability, and official help.
Notify the employer immediately
NJDOL instructs an injured worker to notify a supervisor, personnel office, foreman, or another person in authority as soon as possible. Notice need not be written, but a dated written record helps establish what was reported. Request medical treatment promptly and preserve the incident report, witness details, photographs, work schedule, wage records, and all communications.
The employer or carrier files the First Report of Injury with the State. That employer filing is not the same as a worker filing a formal Claim Petition when benefits are disputed.
Use authorized medical care
The employer or workers’ compensation carrier generally has the right to select the treating provider. Necessary and reasonable authorized treatment, prescriptions, and hospital services related to a compensable injury are paid by the employer or carrier. In an emergency, obtain necessary care and notify the employer as soon as possible.
If the employer refuses or neglects to provide necessary treatment, the worker may seek relief, including a Motion for Medical and/or Temporary Disability Benefits in an appropriate disputed case. Choosing an unauthorized doctor without an emergency or refusal issue may create a payment dispute.
Main benefit categories
Temporary total disability
70% of AWW within annual limits while unable to work and under active care. Use the New Jersey TTD Calculator.
Medical benefits
Necessary and reasonable authorized treatment related to the compensable injury.
Permanent partial disability
Scheduled losses cover listed members; non-scheduled losses address other body areas or systems. Awards begin after temporary disability ends.
Permanent total disability
Initial benefits run for 450 weeks and may continue when the worker proves continuing inability to earn wages.
Death benefits
Dependents may share 70% of the deceased worker’s weekly wage subject to the annual maximum and dependency findings.
Uninsured Employers Fund
May pay ordered temporary disability and reasonable medical expenses when a liable employer lacks required coverage.
Informal hearings and formal Claim Petitions
A worker may request an informal hearing or file a formal Claim Petition when compensability, treatment, temporary disability, or permanent disability is disputed. An informal recommendation is not binding unless accepted. Crucially, NJDOL warns that filing an informal-hearing application does not stop the two-year limitations period.
A formal petition is assigned to a Judge of Compensation. Representation is not required, but NJDOL recommends counsel in complicated or substantial permanent-injury cases. Attorney fees cannot be charged in advance; a judge sets any fee from an award, generally subject to a 20% limit.
Formal filing generally has a two-year limit
NJDOL states that a formal Claim Petition generally must be filed within two years of the injury or the last payment of compensation, whichever is later. Employer-authorized medical treatment counts as a payment of compensation. For occupational illness, the period generally runs from awareness of the condition and its work relationship.
Later treatment, payments, occupational exposure, death, reopening, minors, notice, and other facts can change the analysis. Confirm the actual deadline promptly.
Official New Jersey help
The Division provides district-office contacts, forms, publications, hearing information, and worker FAQs. For a denied claim, medical refusal, approaching deadline, serious permanent injury, or return-to-work dispute, obtain case-specific assistance without waiting for an online estimate.
Official sources
- NJDOL injured-worker protections.
- NJDOL worker FAQs.
- NJDOL navigating disputes.
- NJDOL rates and statistics.
Page last reviewed: August 26, 2026. This independent guide is not legal advice.