A bill (S1982) introduced in the Senate on June 16 would create a Workers’ Compensation Ombudsman for Injured Workers. The governor-appointed Ombudsman would be an advocate for injured workers by accepting, investigating, and attempting to resolve complaints related to workers’ compensation. Additionally, the Ombudsman would be responsible for providing information to injured workers, maintaining a central registry of all claims investigations, and submitting an annual report to the Governor and the Legislature. Under the bill, all information collected by the Ombudsman would be exempt from the Open Public Records Act and no information would be publicly released which would allow identification of an individual claimant.
Note: This article was published in the July 2008 issue of the New Jersey eAuthority.
