New Jersey How Long Does It Take To Get Temporary Disability In NJ

New Jersey’s Temporary Disability Insurance (TDI) program provides New Jersey workers who suffer physical or mental illness or injury up to 26 weeks of financial support following a non-work-related disability. This is a short-term disability program, unlike the federal Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI or SSD) program, which is only available to workers or former workers who suffer long-term disabilities lasting at least one year.

Because the New Jersey Temporary Disability Insurance program is intended to respond to the needs of workers with short-term disabilities, it’s important that the program’s claim process is as quick and as efficient as possible. Generally, the waiting time from application to approval is between two to several weeks.

Is There Any Waiting Period Before You Can Apply for NJ’s TDI Benefits?

There is no waiting time to file your TDI claim, but there is a “waiting week,” built into the system.

When you receive your TDI payments, you will notice that the payments begin covering your 8th day of missed work, not the first week you were disabled. But don’t worry; after you are disable for at least 22 days, the state will then pay you for your first 7 days of disability.

You can and should file your NJ TDI claim as soon as you experience your first day of missing pay due to a disability. If you know in advance that you will become disabled, planning for a scheduled surgery perhaps, you can file your claim for Temporary Disability Insurance Benefits in advance. Filing in advance does not begin the review or approval process, but it does allow you to collect and organize all the medical information and documents necessary to process your claim when the date arrives.

How Are Your NJ TDI Benefit Amounts Calculated?

To determine the amount of your New Jersey Temporary Disability Insurance benefits, the state looks back at your earnings for the past 5 quarters (15 months) and uses the earliest 4 quarters as your “base year.”

Your base year is used look at the average pay you made in any “base week,” which is any week in which you earned $240 or more. When your average base week pay is identified, the state sets your TDI benefit amount at 85% of that pay.

Example:

Here is a table illustrating how a person’s last 5 quarters are used, focusing only on the earliest 4 quarters. The total they earned in each quarter is shown, as are the number of base weeks they had in each of those 4 quarters. Then the total earned is divided by the number of base weeks to arrive at their “average base week pay.”

• Total earnings in the earliest 4 quarters of the previous 5 quarters: $18,200
• Total number of base weeks in the earliest 4 quarters: 45 base weeks
• Average base-pay during earliest 4 quarters: $18,200 divided by 45 = $404.44
• 85 percent of average base pay ……………………………………………………….= $343.77

In this example, the TDI claimant’s weekly benefit payment will be $343.77 throughout the duration of their claim period.

NJ Temporary Disability Insurance Maximum Weekly Benefit Amount

There are limits to the amount any claimant can receive from New Jersey’s Temporary Disability Program. The formula described above is used for everyone, both qualifying low wage earners and workers making high wages.

However, the new maximum level any TDI claimant will receive in 2023 is $1,025 per week. This may seem high for many workers who earn less than that amount even when they are working. It’s helpful to remember that the TDI program is paid from a fund contributed to by all New Jersey workers in the form of payroll deductions.

The same percentage is deducted from each worker’s paycheck across the board. The higher earning workers pay a larger amount into the TDI system funds and get a proportionately higher benefit payment up to a maximum cap.

If you need help determining if you or your family member qualifies for New Jersey Temporary Disability benefits, contact our office to speak with one of our highly trained disability advocates or attorneys. LondonDisability is eager to lead you through the process.

• 2023 Maximum Weekly Benefit Amount – Workers will receive 85% of their average earnings up to a maximum of $1,025 per week.
• 2023 Minimum Earnings Requirement – To qualify in 2023, you will need to have worked 20 weeks earning at least $260 weekly or have earned a combined total of $13,000 in the base year. 2023 Worker Contribution Amount for Temporary Disability Insurance – There will be no Temporary Disability worker contributions deducted for the 2023 calendar year.
• 2023 Worker Contribution Amount for Family Leave Insurance – Workers will contribute 0.06% of the first $156,800 in covered wages. The maximum Family Leave worker contribution for the Waiting Week for Temporary Disability, Explained.