If you were injured while at work in New Jersey, you might wonder, Does workers’ comp cover transportation for medical visits or other medical consultations? Unfortunately, New Jersey law does not require employers to pay for injured workers’ transportation to and from appointments.
However, there are situations where employers may still help with or provide travel-related costs. In this blog post, we will explore benefits related to workers’ compensation and circumstances where it may benefit employers to reimburse travel-related expenses.
Does Workers’ Comp Cover Transportation Costs in New Jersey?
Workers’ compensation is an insurance program that offers wage replacement and medical benefits to employees injured on the job. While workers’ compensation aims to minimize financial burdens on injured workers, employers are not legally bound to provide transportation costs as part of that package. However, certain situations may incentivize employers to cover some transportation expenses for traveling to and from medical appointments in certain situations—for example, when an employer offers the employee light-duty work.
Light duty work refers to work that is less physically or mentally demanding than an injured or ill employee’s regular job duty. Employers often assign this type of work as part of a return-to-work program aimed at helping the employee gradually resume work without exacerbating their medical condition. An employer may terminate an employee if they refuse to accept the accommodation.
Unfortunately, there are cases where the injured employee wants to accept a light-duty offer but cannot because of the work-related injury and because their attending doctor has restricted them from driving. In such situations, reimbursing the employee for travel expenses, rather than refusing to pay temporary disability benefits if the employee cannot take on light duty, makes sense. Most New Jersey Judges of Compensation do not support terminating temporary disability benefits if an employee is willing to return to light-duty work but cannot because a doctor medically restricted them from driving.
In these cases, solutions may include:
- Employee carpooling—theemployer can arrange for a fellow employee to pick up and drive the injured worker to and from work;
- Ride-sharing services—the employer can provide ride-sharing options like Uber or Lyft for the injured employee; or
- Continued benefits—ultimately, it may be more cost-effective for an employer to continue to pay temporary disability benefits until the employee can drive again or reaches maximum medical improvement (MMI).
In the end, whether an employer provides one of these potential solutions often hinges on whether the injured worker has a long work commute or access to public transportation.
What Benefits Does Workers’ Compensation Cover?
Does workers’ comp provide transportation? Although the answer is no, New Jersey workers’ compensation benefits do provide coverage in these five main categories:
- Medical benefits—funds for doctor visits, hospital stays, prescription medications, needed medical equipment, and physical therapy;
- Temporary disability benefits—income replacement if you are unable to work for more than seven days due to a work-related injury or illness paid at 70% of your gross weekly wages, up to a state-mandated maximum until you can return to work or have reached MMI;
- Permanent partial benefits—income replacementfor permanent injuries that partially but not completely limit your ability to work based on the percentage of disability assessed by a doctor assigned by the workers’ compensation insurance carrier and multiplied by a predetermined dollar amount;
- Permanent total benefits—income replacement for permanent injuries that completely prevent you from working based on your average weekly wage, with a maximum limit of two-thirds of your average weekly wage; and
- Death benefits—available to the dependents of workers who die due to work-related injuries or illnesses based on the deceased worker’s average weekly wage.
Though workers’ comp transportation is not a covered New Jersey benefit, clear communication about transportation needs can help streamline transportation requests in a light-duty work scenario where employees are prohibited from driving. A skilled workers’ comp attorney in New Jersey can also help you approach your employer and negotiate a viable transportation option.
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