Flu Season's Hidden Workers' Compensation Cost

As healthcare facilities across the nation report surging respiratory illness cases, the spotlight has turned once again to protecting those on the front lines of medicine. Recent surveillance data reveal a troubling trend: flu activity is increasing rapidly across the United States, with cases and hospitalizations rising by 78% and 53% respectively, in some states, while emergency department visits for influenza have more than doubled in certain regions.

New Jersey's Workplace Safety Wins

A data-driven examination of seven years of workers' compensation trends reveals encouraging progress—and work still needs to be done.

Workplace Toxins: A Hidden Epidemic

In his groundbreaking new book, The Formula for Better Health: How to Save Millions of Lives—Including Your Own, former CDC Director Dr. Tom Frieden draws on decades of experience leading public health efforts to reveal how to defeat the world's deadliest diseases. While the book covers many health threats, its principles are particularly relevant to one of America's most overlooked crises: occupational exposure to toxic substances.

Clocks and Dangers: Daylight Saving Time and the Spike in Workplace Injuries

Most people in the United States look forward to Daylight Saving Time (DST) every spring. We lose an hour of sleep but gain an extra hour of evening sunshine. While the sunnier evenings are enjoyable, the biannual switch to DST continues to pose a significant and measurable danger to workplace safety, a risk confirmed by over a decade of research.

Workers’ Compensation Benefits for Long COVID

 New Jersey Workers' Compensation Benefits for Long COVID: A Comprehensive Update

Understanding Your Rights Under New Jersey's Enhanced Protections for Essential Workers

Protecting Healthcare Heroes: Pandemic Preparedness

The 2025 Global Preparedness Monitoring Board (GPMB) report, The New Face of Pandemic Preparedness, arrives with a sobering message: five years after COVID-19 began, the world remains dangerously unprepared for the next pandemic. But perhaps nowhere is this vulnerability more acute than among healthcare workers and first responders—the very people we depend on when crisis strikes.

Bendix Asbestos: Legacy Lives On

For decades, the former Bendix plant in Teterboro, New Jersey, represented American industrial might—manufacturing brake systems and aerospace components that powered the nation's growth. But beneath that productive facade lurked a silent killer: asbestos. Today, Honeywell's recent divestiture of all legacy Bendix asbestos liabilities to Delticus for approximately $1.68 billion brings renewed attention to a public health crisis that continues to unfold, even as the factory floors have long gone quiet.

Heat: The Silent Worker Threat

When we think about workplace heat exposure, images of construction workers under the blazing sun or farmers toiling in fields typically come to mind. However, groundbreaking new research from Harvard's T.H. Chan School of Public Health reveals a sobering truth: heat is silently increasing the risk of injury for workers across virtually every industry—including those working primarily indoors.

Masks, Hugs, and Proof Gaps

On March 15, 2020, during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, Robert Elijah hugged his coworker, Juan Martinez, in a PATH employee locker room after resolving an argument. Neither wore masks. Martinez had been experiencing symptoms he described as resembling a head cold—dizziness, coughing, heavy breathing, and headaches—though as a smoker, he considered seasonal coughs normal.

NJ Fights Worker Misclassification

Worker misclassification has become a significant battleground in New Jersey, with state labor officials taking increasingly aggressive action against employers who improperly classify employees as independent contractors. Recent enforcement actions demonstrate the state's commitment to protecting workers' rights and ensuring access to crucial benefits.

Asbestos Ban Under Fire

The battle over America's long-awaited ban on asbestos has reached a critical juncture in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, where the 2024 EPA rule faces fierce industry challenges that could determine the fate of worker safety protections nationwide.

Jersey Fights COVID Workplace Risks

New Jersey's bold move to expand COVID-19 vaccine access represents a critical step forward in workplace safety and pandemic preparedness at a time when other states are moving in the opposite direction. The Garden State's recent Executive Directive No. 25-003 and accompanying Standing Order demonstrate how state-level leadership can protect workers and communities when federal guidance falls short.

Workers' Compensation Breakdown

Professor Michael C. Duff's law review article "Reverberations of Magna Carta – Work Injuries, Inkblots, and Restitution" presents a scathing indictment of America's workers' compensation system. His central argument: workers have been "unconstitutionally undercompensated" for over a century, creating what amounts to a constitutional crisis hiding in plain sight.

Older Workers Fall Risk

The aging workforce faces a hidden but deadly threat: workplace falls. Recent data reveal that fall-related deaths among older adults have more than tripled in the past 30 years, with over 41,000 Americans aged 65 and older dying from falls in 2023 alone. This alarming trend extends beyond the home into workplace environments, where employers must urgently address the unique vulnerabilities of their aging employees.

Protecting Public Health: A Legal Battle

Medical professionals nationwide are taking a stand against the recent actions of the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., filing a lawsuit to challenge decisions they argue jeopardize public health and undermine established vaccine protocols. 

Asbestos: USA's Unfinished Ban Battle

For decades, the insidious threat of asbestos has loomed over public health, leaving a trail of devastating diseases. While many developed nations have long enacted comprehensive bans, the United States has lagged, allowing a dangerous legacy to persist. Recent actions by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) mark a significant, albeit still incomplete, step towards finally addressing this critical issue. The issue is still pending before the US 5th Circuit Court of Appeals.

WCMSAs: What You Need to Know

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) recently hosted an informative webinar on Workers' Compensation Medicare Set-Asides (WCMSAs), shedding light on these crucial financial agreements and their impact on workers' compensation claims. 

No Workers' Compensation? Work Stops!

The New Jersey Department of Labor (NJDOL) is committed to worker protection, and a recent action in Jersey City underscores a key enforcement tool: stop-work orders. These orders can be issued when employers fail to comply with state laws and regulations, particularly those designed to protect workers. A significant reason for such an order is the failure of an employer to carry workers' compensation insurance.

Great Falls: Asbestos Abatement Underway

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) commenced a significant $4 million project in June 2025 to remove hazardous materials, including asbestos and lead, from the Allied Textile Printing (ATP) site in Paterson, New Jersey. This long-awaited cleanup is a critical step towards the full opening of the Paterson Great Falls National Historical Park's new $8 million riverwalk, which has been awaiting the completion of the remediation efforts. 

NJ Supreme Court to Review COVID Compensability

The New Jersey Supreme Court has agreed to review Amato v. Township of Ocean School District, a pivotal case with significant implications for workers' compensation benefits related to COVID-19 occupational exposure, particularly concerning the interpretation of "essential employee" and a notable judicial recusal issue. This decision by the state's highest court underscores the critical legal questions that the Court will address.