Sponsored by:
Assemblyman DANIEL R. BENSON
District 14 (Mercer and Middlesex)
Assemblyman RAJ MUKHERJI
District 33 (Hudson)
Assemblywoman JOANN DOWNEY
District 11 (Monmouth)
Co-Sponsored by:
Assemblymen Holley, Danielsen and Johnson
SYNOPSIS
Establishes compensation program for certain county corrections officers injured while performing official duties.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning county corrections officers and supplementing Title 34 of the Revised Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. Any county corrections officer who, while in the course of performing the officer’s official duties, suffers serious bodily injury as the direct result of an assault by the inmates or detainees under the officer’s custody or charge shall continue to receive full wages for up to six months or until the officer begins receiving compensation for that injury under R.S.34:15-1 et seq., whichever comes first.
In addition to the compensation received under R.S.34:15-1 et seq., the injured officer shall receive regular supplemental payments from the officer’s 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 payments authorized under this section shall continue for up to six months so long as the injured officer remains a county corrections officer and continues to be compensated under R.S.34:15-1 et seq.
The fringe benefits afforded an injured officer under the terms of a collective bargaining agreement, contract, or statute shall not be negated or impaired in any way and shall remain in full force and effect during the time that officer is receiving supplemental payments pursuant to this section.
2. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill establishes a compensation program for county corrections officers who are injured while in the performance of the officers’ official duties.
Under the provisions of the bill, a county corrections officer who, while in the performance of his or her official duties, suffers serious bodily injury as the direct result of an assault by the inmates or detainees under the officer’s custody and care will be entitled to receive his or her full salary from the officer’s employer for up to six months or until workers’ compensation payments begin, whichever comes first. Once the workers’ compensation payments begin, the injured officer will be entitled to regular supplemental payments from his or her employer in an amount that, when added to the workers’ compensation payments, equal the injured officer’s net wages at the time of the injury. These supplemental payments are to continue for up to six months, as long as the person remains a county corrections officer and continues to receive workers’ compensation for the injury.
The bill also specifies that these supplemental payments are not to negate or impair any fringe benefits afforded an injured 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.