New Jersey § 43:21-26

§ 43:21-26.

Purpose. This act 1 shall be liberally construed as remedial legislation enacted upon the following declarations

of public policy and legislative findings of fact: The public policy of this State, already established, is to protect employees against

the suffering and hardship generally caused by involuntary unemployment. But the “unemployment compensation law” 2 provides benefit payments to replace wage loss caused by involuntary unemployment

only so long as an individual is “able to work, and is available for work,” and fails

to provide any protection against wage loss suffered because of inability to perform

the duties of a job interrupted by nonoccupational illness, injury, or other disability

of the individual or of members of the individual's family. Nor is there any other comprehensive and systematic provision for the protection

of working people against loss of earnings due to a nonoccupational sickness, accident,

or other disability. The prevalence and incidence of nonoccupational sickness, accident, and other disability

among employed people is greatest among the lower income groups, who either cannot

or will not voluntarily provide out of their own resources against the hazard of an

earnings loss caused by nonoccupational sickness, accident, or other disability. Disabling sickness or accident occurs throughout the working population at one time

or another, and approximately fifteen per centum (15%) of the number of people at

work may be expected to suffer disabling illness of more than one week each year. It was found, prior to the enactment of the “Temporary Disability Benefits Law,” P.L.1948,

c. 110 ( C.43:21-25 et al.), that then existing voluntary plans for the payment of cash sickness benefits

covered less than one-half of the number of working people of this State who were

covered by the “unemployment compensation law,” and that even that degree of voluntary

protection afforded uneven, unequal and sometimes uncertain protection among the various

voluntary benefit programs. While the enactment of that law has provided stable protection for New Jersey's disabled

workers, very few workers are protected from income losses caused by the need to take

time off from work to care for family members who are incapable of self-care, including

newborn and newly-adopted children. The growing portion of middle-income families in which all adult family members

work, largely due to economic necessity, points to the desperate need for replacement

income when a working family member must take time to care for family members who

are unable to take care of themselves. Moreover, the United States is the only industrialized nation in the world which

does not have a mandatory workplace-based program for such income support. It is therefore desirable and necessary to fill the gap in existing provisions for

protection against the loss of earnings caused by involuntary unemployment, by extending

such protection to meet the hazard of earnings loss due to inability to work caused

by nonoccupational sickness, accidents, or other disabilities of workers and members

of their families. Developing systems that help families adapt to the competing interests of work and

home not only benefits workers, but also benefits employers by reducing employee turnover

and increasing worker productivity. The foregoing facts and considerations require that there be a uniform minimum program

providing in a systematic manner for the payment of reasonable benefits to replace

partially such earnings loss and to meet the continuing need for benefits where an

individual becomes disabled during unemployment or needs to care for family members

incapable of self-care. In order to maintain consumer purchasing power, relieve the serious menace to health,

morals and welfare of the people caused by insecurity and the loss of earnings, to

reduce the necessity for public relief of needy persons, to increase workplace productivity

and alleviate the enormous and growing stress on working families of balancing the

demands of work and family needs, and in the interest of the health, welfare and security

of the people of this State, such a system, enacted under the police power, is hereby

established, requiring the payment of reasonable cash benefits to eligible individuals

who are subject to accident or illness which is not compensable under the worker's

compensation law 3 or who need to care for family members incapable of self-care. While the Legislature recognizes the pressing need for benefits for workers taking

leave to care for family members incapable of self-care, it also finds that the need

of workers for leave during their own disability continues to be especially acute,

as a disabled worker has less discretion about taking time off from work than a worker

caring for a family member. Notwithstanding any interpretation of law which may be construed as providing a

worker with rights to take action against an employer who fails or refuses to restore

the worker to employment after the worker's own disability, the Legislature does not

intend that the policy established by P.L.2008, c. 17 ( C.43:21-39.1 et al.) of providing benefits for workers during periods of family temporary disability

leave to care for family members incapable of self-care be construed as granting any

worker an entitlement to be restored by the employer to employment held by the worker

prior to taking family temporary disability leave or any right to take action, in

tort, or for breach of an implied provision of the employment agreement, or under

common law, against an employer who fails or refuses to restore the worker to employment

after the family temporary disability leave, and the Legislature does not intend that

the policy of providing benefits during family temporary disability leave be construed

as increasing, reducing or otherwise modifying any entitlement of a worker to return

to employment or right of the worker to take action under the provisions of the “Family

Leave Act,” P.L.1989, c. 261 ( C.34:11B-1 et seq. ) . Since the enactment of the “Temporary Disability Benefits Law,” P.L.1948, c. 110 ( C.43:21-25 et al.), the State government-operated State temporary disability benefits plan,

or “State plan,” has proven to be highly efficient and cost effective in providing

temporary disability benefits to New Jersey workers. The State plan guarantees the availability of coverage for all employers, regardless

of experience, with low overhead costs and a rapid processing of claims and appeals

by knowledgeable, impartial public employees. Consequently, the percentage of all employers using the State plan increased from

64% in 1952 to 98% in 2006, while the percentage of employees covered by the State

plan increased from 28% to 83%. A publicly-operated, nonprofit State plan is therefore indispensable to achieving

the goals of the “Temporary Disability Benefits Law,” P.L.1948, c. 110 ( C.43:21-25 et al.). 1

N.J.S.A. § 43:21-25 et seq. 2

N.J.S.A. § 43:21-1 et seq. 3

N.J.S.A. § 34:1-1 et seq.