{"id":33732,"date":"2016-03-31T19:22:49","date_gmt":"2016-04-01T00:22:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/content.findlaw-admin.com\/ability-legal\/uncategorized\/the-new-jersey-workers-compensation-fraud-act.html"},"modified":"2017-10-26T10:52:09","modified_gmt":"2017-10-26T15:52:09","slug":"the-new-jersey-workers-compensation-fraud-act","status":"publish","type":"corporate","link":"https:\/\/corporate.findlaw.com\/human-resources\/the-new-jersey-workers-compensation-fraud-act.html","title":{"rendered":"The New Jersey Workers’ Compensation Fraud Act"},"content":{"rendered":"
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On August 14, 1998, Governor Whitman signed into law this state’s first bill specifically addressing the issue of workers’ compensation fraud. The Workers’ Compensation Fraud Act, codified at N. J. S. A. 34:15-57.4<\/a>, subjects claimants to criminal penalties for the fourth degree crime of workers’ compensation fraud if they "purposely or knowingly" make false or misleading claims, statements, representations or submissions concerning any fact that is "material" to a claim for the purpose of wrongfully obtaining benefits. The Act states that "purposely or knowingly" shall have the same definition as that used in subsection b. of N. J. S. A. 2C:2-3<\/a> of the New Jersey Criminal Code. Under that statutory section, "purposely or knowingly" means that "the actual result must be within the design or contemplation" of the actor.<\/p>\n

Criminal Sanctions for Employers<\/b><\/p>\n

It is equally important to point out that the Act also subjects employers to criminal sanctions if they intentionally misclassify workers or engage in deceptive leasing practices to evade workers’ compensation insurance premium payments. Along those lines, the law specifies that an employer or insurance carrier that improperly delays or denies benefits must pay the amount owed plus simple interest.<\/p>\n

It is clear that these new criminal offenses are designed to provide a more effective means to prosecute those who would illegally profit through the filing of false or fraudulent claims, as well as those employers who would attempt to avoid paying workers’ compensation insurance premiums. Since these are criminal offenses, however, one must remember that the burden of proof is "beyond a reasonable doubt" as in any criminal case. That burden is much more difficult to establish than the burden of proof required in a workers’ compensation case which is only a "preponderance of the probabilities."<\/p>\n

Given the tremendous significance of this law, it is worth reviewing the additional sanctions that can be imposed for violating the Act:<\/p>\n