New Jersey's New Workers' Compensation Enforcement Statute

Governor Corzine has now signed into law a new enforcement statute for workers' compensation coverage in New Jersey. The law amend NJSA 34:15-79 and allows the Director of the Division of Workers' Compensation a stop-work order and impose penalties of between $1,000 to $5,000 per day for non-compliance.

The broad legislation makes it a violation for an employer to misrepresent the status of an employee as an "independent contractor" or to knowingly provide misleading, incomplete or false information.

The Division is in the process of promulgating administrative rules and regulations for implementation of this legislation.