New Jersey Workers Comp Settlement Calculator

Workers' Comp in New Jersey at a Glance

New Jersey's workers' compensation system is run by the Division of Workers' Compensation (DWC), part of the Department of Labor and Workforce Development, through 15 workers' compensation courts around the state (DWC About page). The rules come from the New Jersey Workers' Compensation Act, N.J.S.A. 34:15-1 and following (compiled law text, NJDOL).

Coverage is broad: state law requires nearly every New Jersey employer that isn't covered by a federal program to either carry workers' compensation insurance or be approved to self-insure (DWC Injured Worker Protections). If you're an employee hurt on the job or made sick by your work, you're generally covered from your first day, regardless of fault.

Temporary Disability Benefits

If your injury keeps you out of work, New Jersey pays temporary total disability (TTD) at 70% of your average weekly wage (AWW) at the time of injury, subject to a statutory maximum and minimum. Source: R.S. 34:15-12(a) (NJDOL compiled law, PDF).

2026 rates, effective January 1, 2026 through December 31, 2026: maximum $1,199/week (up from $1,159 in 2025); minimum $320/week (the statute sets the floor at 20% of the statewide average weekly wage; 20% of the 2026 SAWW of $1,598.66 is $319.73, which rounds to $320). Sources: NJDOL 2026 benefit-rate press release (nj.gov) for the $1,199 maximum and the $1,598.66 SAWW; R.S. 34:15-12(a) for the 20%-of-SAWW minimum formula.

Waiting period: no cash benefits (only medical care) are paid until you've been disabled for 7 days. If your disability lasts longer than 7 days, that first week is paid retroactively. Source: R.S. 34:15-14 (NJDOL compiled law, PDF).

Duration: TTD is capped at a hard 400 weeks, unlike states where it runs until you reach maximum medical improvement with no set limit. Source: R.S. 34:15-12(a); confirmed against N.J.S.A. 34:15-12 via Justia (statute text via Justia).

Permanent Partial Disability (PPD)

New Jersey does not use the AMA Guides to the Evaluation of Permanent Impairment to set dollar values. Instead, the state has its own statutory schedule that assigns a maximum number of weeks to each body part; a doctor rates your percentage of permanent loss of function, and that percentage is applied against the part's maximum weeks. Source: R.S. 34:15-12(c) (NJDOL compiled law, PDF); schedule of body-part weeks (NJDOL 2026 Schedule of Disabilities, PDF).

PPD is paid after your temporary disability (TTD) period ends — it compensates for the permanent loss left once you've healed as much as you're going to.

The dollar value of a PPD award is not simply your wage times a percentage. New Jersey's official 2026 schedule sets a maximum total dollar award tied to the total number of weeks the award covers (more weeks land in a higher dollar bracket). For example, the 2026 schedule sets the maximum award for a 90-week case at $28,800. Source: NJDOL 2026 Schedule of Disabilities and Maximum Benefits, PDF.

Source: R.S. 34:15-12(c); NJDOL 2026 Schedule of Disabilities (PDF).

A note on fingers: New Jersey treats the loss of the first joint (phalange) of a finger as half the finger's scheduled weeks, and loss reaching into the second joint as the full finger — but no combination of finger losses can be compensated at more than the value of a full hand. Source: R.S. 34:15-12(c).

Two more details worth knowing if your case involves more than one body part or an amputation:

• Multiple body parts in one case. If your claim petition covers more than one disability, each one is rated and assigned its own number of weeks separately — they aren't added together before the weeks-to-dollars bracket is applied.
• Amputation. When the injury involves an actual amputation (as opposed to loss of use without amputation), New Jersey adds an extra 30% on top of the scheduled award, and that extra 30% isn't counted when figuring an attorney's fee.

Use the PPD calculator below to work through your own body part and percentage against this schedule.

Permanent Total Disability

If your injury leaves you permanently and totally unable to work, New Jersey pays the same 70%-of-wages rate (subject to the same 2026 max/min) for up to 450 weeks, after which payments stop unless you complete an approved rehabilitation program and still can't earn a wage comparable to your pre-injury pay — in that case, reduced payments continue. Source: R.S. 34:15-12(b) (statute text via Justia).

How Settlements Work in New Jersey

New Jersey workers' comp cases resolve one of two ways once a claim petition is filed:

• Order Approving Settlement ("Section 20" settlement). Named for its statutory home, R.S. 34:15-20, this is a lump-sum settlement approved by a judge of compensation. It results in a dismissal of the case "with prejudice" and is final as to all rights and benefits — meaning it closes out the claim entirely, including future medical treatment for that injury.
• Formal award / agreement for compensation ("Section 22"). Under R.S. 34:15-22, the parties can agree on the extent of disability and have a judge approve a formal award instead of a full dismissal. This route leaves the case open: medical or disability benefits tied to the award can later be reviewed or modified under R.S. 34:15-27 if your condition changes.

Either way, a judge of compensation must approve the settlement before it's binding — you and your employer/insurer can't finalize a workers' comp settlement on your own.

Deadlines

Notice to your employer: tell your employer as soon as you can. The statute sets up a layered rule: if your employer doesn't already know about the injury, you generally need to give notice within 14 days to avoid a delay in when benefits start, and notice given within 30 days generally cures small defects unless your employer can show it was actually harmed by the delay. As an outer limit, if your employer has no actual knowledge and gets no notice within 90 days of the injury, no compensation is allowed at all. Source: R.S. 34:15-17.

Claim petition (statute of limitations): you generally must file a formal claim petition with the Division of Workers' Compensation within 2 years of the date of the accident (or, where compensation has already been paid, within 2 years of the last payment). For an occupational illness — a condition caused gradually by your work rather than a single accident — the 2-year clock instead runs from when you first became aware, or should reasonably have become aware, that the condition was connected to your job. Sources: R.S. 34:15-51 (statute text via Justia); DWC Injured Worker FAQ.

Medical Care

In New Jersey, your employer (or its insurance carrier) chooses the treating doctor for a work injury — this is the opposite of states that let the injured worker pick. You can generally only see your own doctor at the employer's expense in a true emergency, or if the employer unreasonably refuses or neglects to provide care. Sources: R.S. 34:15-15 (employer's duty to furnish treatment); DWC Injured Worker Protections page, stating "the employer, and/or the insurance carrier, has the right to designate the authorized treating physician for all work-related injuries."

Worked Example (Hypothetical)

This is a simplified illustration, not a prediction of any real case. Facts: average weekly wage (AWW) of $1,200. Worker is out of work for 10 weeks (TTD), then rated with a 20% permanent loss of use of the hand.

New Jersey's official 2026 schedule sets the maximum total award for a 52-week case; check the schedule's exact dollar figure for 52 weeks before relying on a number — this page doesn't display a figure it can't confirm directly against the current chart. (For reference, the same 2026 schedule shows a 90-week award capped at $28,800, so the amount scales with the week bracket, not a flat weekly rate.) Combined, TTD ($8,400) plus the 52-week PPD award from the current official schedule gives a rough total. Source for the schedule itself: NJDOL 2026 Schedule of Disabilities and Maximum Benefits, PDF. This is only an estimate based on simplified facts. It is not a settlement offer, a prediction of any outcome, or legal advice.