A student attending college and working full time was permitted temporary disability benefits despite the alleged defense of "Voluntary Departure" from the workforce. The court's decision is unsurprising since that terminology is absent from the Workers’ Compensation Act.
Defense counsel alleged the proposition to deny the payment of temporary disability benefits, where the injured employee was also attending college. The court held that voluntary unemployment and college attendance were not considered disqualification factors for receiving workers’ compensation temporary disability benefits.
The court reasoned that temporary benefits were a wage loss replacement, and payment was mandated if the employee was out of work and under authorized medical care. The court reasoned that attending college while working was commonplace in the workplace, and not working caused the injured worker to lose wages.
Soto v. HOOSIER CARE, INC., 2023 WL 8539408 (NJ App. Div. 2023) Decided December 11, 2023.
NOT FOR PUBLICATION WITHOUT THE APPROVAL OF THE APPELLATE DIVISION
This opinion shall not "constitute precedent or be binding upon any court." Although it is posted on the internet, this opinion is binding only on the parties in the case and its use in other cases is limited. R. 1:36-3.
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Jon L. Gelman of Wayne, NJ, is the author of NJ Workers’ Compensation Law (West-Thomson-Reuters) and co-author of the national treatise Modern Workers’ Compensation Law (West-Thomson-Reuters). For over five decades, the Law Offices of Jon Gelman 1.973.696.7900
jon@gelmans.com has represented injured workers and their families who have suffered occupational illnesses and diseases.
Blog: Workers' Compensation
LinkedIn: JonGelman
LinkedIn Group: Injured Workers Law & Advocacy Group
Author: "Workers' Compensation Law" West-Thomson-Reuters
Mastodon:@gelman@mstdn.social
Recommended Citation: Gelman, Jon L., Voluntary Departure, www.gelmans.com (12/16/2023), https://workers-compensation.blogspot.com/2023/12/voluntary-departure.html
© 2023 Jon L Gelman. All rights reserved.
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