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New Jersey Benefit Questions

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When should an employee file a claim under

New Jersey  short-term disability or TDB? When can they expect to receive benefits? Can a worker file more than one claim a year?

In general, the disabled employee must file a NJ TBD claim within 30 days after the first day that he or she is unable to work. If the worker waits more than 30 days to file the claim, he or she must show good cause why they did not file earlier. Examples of good cause would include being in the ICU after a heart attack, or being in a coma. If good cause for late filing is not shown, the worker’s benefits may be reduced or denied altogether.

The New Jersey Temporary Disability Benefits program is usually referred to by the acronym TDB.

New Jersey is one of five states that mandate benefits for employees who are temporarily unable to work for medical reasons.

Workers cannot file TDB claims ahead of time. For example, a worker who has  heart-bypass surgery scheduled in one week cannot file a disability claim today – not even one that will become valid next week.  The individual must actually be disabled and not working, in order to file a claim. Filing claims early may well result in them being rejected, or in a reduction of benefits.

Under TDB, payments begin on the 8^th consecutive day of a worker’s disability. The first seven days of the disability are the “waiting week.” If the disability continues for more than 3 consecutive weeks, the employee is paid retroactively for the “waiting week.” Be sure that you inform the Disability office promptly when you recover or return to work – continuing to collect disability payments when you are health is fraud.

An employee can have more than one disability claim in one year. The claims may be for the same condition, or for different conditions. However, the maximum benefit for both claims combined is 26 weeks per year.

Once a disability claim is filed, it generally takes at least 14 days for a determination of eligibility to be made. If any of the required information is missing, that will delay the process.