S2335

An Act concerning certain probation officers and supplementing chapter 168 of Title 2A of the New Jersey Statutes.

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

1. a. Any State probation officer who, in the course of performing official probation officer duties, suffers bodily injury as the result of an assault by a probationer under the officer’s care and supervision shall continue to receive full wages until the officer begins receiving compensation for that injury under R.S.34:15-1 et seq.

b. In addition to the compensation received under R.S.34:15-1 et seq., the injured probation officer shall receive regular supplemental payments from his employer in an amount that is sufficient, when added to the compensation received under R.S.34:15-1 et seq., to equal the net wage of the injured officer at the time of the injury. The supplemental payment authorized under this subsection shall continue so long as the injured officer retains his position as a State probation officer and continues to be compensated under R.S.34:15-1 et seq.

c. The fringe benefits afforded an injured probation officer under the terms of a collective bargaining agreement, contract, or statute shall not be negated nor impaired in any way and shall remain in full force and effect during the time that the officer is receiving supplement payments pursuant to this section.

d. For the purposes of this section:

“Probationer” means a person who is under the care or supervision of a State probation officer.

“State probation officer” means one defined by law or contract between the New Jersey State Judiciary and the Probation Association of New Jersey, including but not limited to those employees who are in the following titles referred to in those contracts: Probation Officer, Senior Probation Officer, Master Probation Officer, Substance Abuse Evaluator, Family Court Coordinator, Assistant Child Placement Review Coordinator, Bilingual Community Outreach Worker. The term also shall include all titles covered by Appendix A of the Professional Supervisory Unit, including but not limited to the informal title of Team Leader and Court Service Supervisor 1, Court Service Supervisor 2, and Court Service Supervisor 3.

2. This act shall take effect on the first day of the third month following enactment.

STATEMENT

This bill establishes a compensation program for State probation officers who suffer bodily injury as the result of an assault by a probationer under their care or supervision.

Under the provisions of the bill, an injured probation officer would be entitled to his or her salary until their workmen’s compensation payments begin. Once their workmen’s compensation payments begin, the injured officers would be entitled to regular supplemental payments from their employer. The amount of these payments would be sufficient, when added to the injured officer’s workmen’s compensation, to equal his or her net wages at the time of the injury.

These supplemental payments are to continue as long as the officer remains a State probation officer and continues to receive workmen’s compensation for the injury.

Finally, the bill specifies that these supplemental payments are not to negate or impair any fringe benefits afforded an injured probation officer under the terms of a collective bargaining agreement, contract, or statute and that these fringe benefits are to remain in full force and effect during the time that officer is receiving the supplemental payments authorized under the bill.