CODE: 4144.3R

SECTION: INSTRUCTIONAL AND SUPPORT PERSONNEL

PROCEDURES FOR WORKERS' COMPENSATION AND MODIFIED DUTY

1. An employee shall immediately contact his or her supervisor to report an accident or occupational illness and shall promptly complete an "Occupational Report of Injury or Illness" form, which form shall be furnished by the department head or supervisor. Same day notice of work injury is required by the Board, unless medically impossible due to emergency. In no event shall notice of an injury or occupational illness be provided later than 48 hours from the time of the injury or from the time when the employee becomes aware of an occupational illness. Failure to promptly report an accident or occupational illness may delay the receipt of workers' compensation benefits and may lead to discipline.

2. The reporting process shall include a form for the employee's statement of injury or illness to be completed by the employee in his or her handwriting and signed and dated by the employee. In addition, the supervisor will complete the supervisor's report of injury or illness form.

3. The Board will pay only for the treating physician or physical therapy center designated by the Board or its third party administrator, except in the case of a true emergency in which the employee has insufficient time to contact the Board for approval to treat. Following any true emergency visit, the employee will immediately make contact with the Board to report the injury or occupational illness.

4. The Board will not pay for the care of unauthorized physicians, hospitals, diagnostic centers, physical therapy, and similar medical providers (with the exception of emergencies noted above) and will not pay for the care of unauthorized family doctors or other personal physicians for work-related injuries or illnesses.

5. Medical appointments and physical therapy shall be scheduled after work hours so as not to conflict with work schedules, unless the medical provider does not have such hours available.

6. The Board shall pay all benefits due to the injured employee under the provisions of the New Jersey Workers' Compensation Act, N.J.S.A. 34:15-7, et. seq.

7. When an employee is out of work for a work-related injury or illness and will be out in excess of one week, the employee shall contact their immediate supervisor to stipulate the length of the absence. Follow-up contact shall be made when absence is extended.

8. When an employee is out of work for a work-related injury or illness and is receiving full salary or temporary disability benefits under the New Jersey Workers’ Compensation Act for wage loss, it shall be a violation of Board policy for the employee to engage in other gainful employment or secondary employment. Employees who violate this policy shall be subject to appropriate discipline.

 

1. Modified or light duty will be offered to injured workers at the discretion of the Board, provided there are positions available and that a physician has certified that the employee can perform the functions of the modified duty job safely.

2. Modified or light duty shall be defined as a temporary job assignment in which the worker performs either part of the regular job functions or other entirely different functions, such as office duty or paperwork. The Board reserves the right to assign modified duty inter-departmentally.

3. While the employee is performing approved modified or light duty assigned by the Board, the employee will receive the same salary he or she was receiving prior to the work injury or illness.

4. The Board has a limited number of modified or light duty positions available at any time and cannot guarantee that every injured employee will receive a modified duty position.

5. There is no permanent modified or light duty in the West Milford Board of Education. All modified duty positions are temporary in nature.

6. Modified or light duty positions shall terminate on the earlier of the following two events:

a. when the worker has reached maximum medical improvement according to the opinion of the authorized treating physician; or

b. no later than one year from when the modified duty position commenced. In no event will light duty be continued after one year.

7. At the point of maximum medical improvement or one year, whichever is earlier, the employee shall return to the former job and resume full duty. The Board reserves the right to require an employee returning from modified duty to submit to a fitness-for-duty examination at the Board’s expense.

1. It is the policy of the Board to run absences under workers' compensation concurrent with any entitlement which the employee may have under the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (FMLA). In other words, while an employee is out of work for an accident which arises out of and in the course of employment, the Board will count such absence toward any entitlement which the employee may have under the FMLA. The Board will advise the employee in writing of the date when it begins running applicable FMLA leave during a workers’compensation absence.

2. If the employee is no longer eligible for full salary and is receiving temporary disability benefits in workers’compensation while on FMLA leave, the employee will have the right to substitute paid leave to supplement the difference between the amount of temporary disability benefits and his or her full salary. If requested, the Board will subtract one of the employee’s paid leave days (sick or personal days) for each day that the employee is receiving temporary disability benefits. However, the Board will not make a pro rata apportionment of sick or personal days. If the employee does not request substitution of paid leave to supplement temporary disability benefits, the employee will continue to receive temporary disability benefits only.

 

First Reading: November 20, 2001
Adopted: December 18, 2001

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