In accordance with Chapter 92, P.L. 2007, the Workers' Compensation Judges (WCJ) Part of the Public Employees' Retirement System (PERS) will be closed to new membership, effective June 8, 2007. Members who were enrolled in the WCJ Part of the PERS (those employed by the Division of Workers' Compensation
of the Department of Labor as Workers' Compensation Judges, see titles listed ) prior to June 8, 2007 will continue to be offered special retirement benefits through their membership in the WCJ Part of the PERS.
The titles that were eligible for membership in the Workers' Compensation Judges
Part of the PERS prior to June 8, 2007 include:
- Chief Judge
- Administrative Supervisory
Judge
- Supervisory Judge
- Judge of Compensation
Members holding any of the above titles
at Division of Workers' Compensation of the Department
of Labor prior to June 8, 2007 will remain in the WCJ Part of the PERS; they retain many PERS benefits, including those in the
areas of retirement options, disability retirement qualifications
and benefits, and contributory life insurance coverage; however, other benefits
are similar to those of the Judicial Retirement
System. Members of the Workers' Compensation Judges Part of the
PERS must retire on the first of the calendar month after
reaching the age of 70 (with one exception, see below), while other
members of the PERS do not have a mandatory retirement age.
In addition, the PERS
Workers' Compensation Judges Addendum
provides information about membership and benefits specific for
PERS Workers' Compensation Judges Part members.
Those with no existing PERS account who are appointed to a Workers' Compensation Judge position on or after June 8, 2007 will be enrolled in the Deferred Compensation Retirement Program, or DCRP, established under Chapter 92, P.L. 2007. The DCRP will be administered for the Division of Pensions and Benefits by Prudential.
A member enrolled in the PERS prior to July 1, 2007 who is appointed as a Workers’ Compensation Judge on or after July 1, 2007, will remain a regular PERS member while serving as a Workers’ Compensation Judge.
Topics and Tasks
The outline below
provides specific topics or tasks related to the Workers' Compensation
Judges Part of the Public Employees' Retirement System. Click
on the topic of interest to access the information you require
quickly. Other topics are covered under the Public
Employees' Retirement System, since Workers' Compensation
Judges Part members are a special group of the PERS, as described
above.