Two bills have already been signed this year by Governor Phil Murphy, which will have some impact on workers’ compensation. The first, S-3772, deals with board and lodging provided by employers. Under N.J.S.A. 34:15-37, the law provided until 2026 that board and lodging “when furnished by the employer as part of the wages shall be included and valued at $25.00 per week.” This legislation was passed in 1945, but the $25 amount has not been amended in 80 years.
Under the new amendment to N.J.S.A. 34:15-37 signed by Governor Murphy, board and lodging when provided by employers as part of wages shall be at market value at the time of injury. One exception is noted in the amendment. “If, however, the claimant continues to receive board or lodging during a period of total temporary disability, (sic), the value of the board or lodging shall not be included in the calculation of the workers’ compensation rate for purposes of temporary total disability.”
Cases are rare where an employer provides board and lodging as part of wages or a contract of hire. When this does occur, the use of market value rather than $25 per week will amount to a significant increase in the average weekly wage of the employee. This is the intention behind the legislation.
Another bill relevant to workers’ compensation practitioners was signed by Governor Murphy on January 14, 2026, namely S-2373. This legislation provides employment protections for paid first responders who have been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). This bill is not workers’ compensation legislation because Judges of Compensation do not have the power to order reinstatement of employees to work. Where workers’ compensation law comes into play, however, is the requirement that the diagnosis of PTSD be based on work exposure or work injury. The law provides:
An employer shall not discharge, harass, or otherwise discriminate or retaliate or threaten to discharge, harass, or otherwise discriminate or retaliate against an employee with respect to the compensation, terms, conditions, duties or privileges of employment on the basis that the employee took or requested any leave related to a qualifying diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder.
The law further provides that following a period of leave for PTSD, “an employer shall reinstate an employee whose fitness to return to work has been documented by a mental health professional to the position and duties held by the employee prior to the leave.”
How does the employee satisfy the requirement that the PTSD condition arose from work? The law permits two methods. First, the diagnosis may be “memorialized in an order of a judge of the Division of Workers’ Compensation concerning the employer and employee and the traumatic injury or exposure which makes up the basis for the claim, upon motion or after a plenary trial or by stipulation of the employer or employee.”
The second way, and probably more common way, will occur after “an examination of the employee by a mental health professional who reports the diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder…” The mental health practitioner must give an opinion that this diagnosis arose from the employee witnessing or experiencing a traumatic event arising from work. Alternatively, the mental health practitioner may determine that the diagnosis is “due to vicarious trauma experienced by the employee as a result of the performance of regular or assigned duties of the employee.” The term “vicarious trauma” is not defined in the legislation but is commonly used to mean a situation where the psychological impact stems from learning or hearing about traumatic experiences of others.
This new law does not abrogate the right of a public employer to discharge any employee who it determines to be unfit for duty. However, when a mental health practitioner opines that a first responder can return to work following a leave related to PTSD, this law provides the first responder with job protection.
