An Unpaid Volunteer Firefighter Is Entitled to NJ Workers’ Compensation Temporary Benefits

The NJ Supreme Court unanimously held that an unpaid and unemployed volunteered firefighter was entitled to temporary workers’ compensation benefits. The Court, in reversing both the Trial and Appellate rulings, declared that volunteer firefighters have been conferred special status by the New Jersey legislature and they should be paid temporary disability benefits at the maximum rate without a seven-day waiting period, even if the injured volunteer firefighter was not holding outside employment at the time of the work-related injury.