43:21-55.1 Liability for repayment of disability benefits overpayments.
2. (a) If it is determined by the division that an individual for any reason has received, under the State plan, an approved private plan or for a disability during unemployment, any sum of disability benefits, including benefits during a period of family temporary disability leave, to which the individual was not entitled, the individual shall, except as provided in subsection (b) of this section, be liable to repay the sum in full. Except as provided in subsection (b) of this section, the sum that the individual is liable to repay shall be deducted from future benefits payable to the individual under P.L.1948, c.110 (C.43:21-25 et al.) or subsection (f) of R.S.43:21-4, or shall be repaid by the individual to the division, the employer or the insurer, and that sum shall be collectible in the manner provided for by law, including, but not limited to, the filing of a certificate of debt with the Clerk of the Superior Court of New Jersey; except that no individual who does not knowingly misrepresent or withhold any material fact to obtain benefits shall be liable for any repayments or deductions against future benefits unless notified before four years have elapsed from the time the benefits in question were paid. The division shall promptly notify the individual by mail of the determination and the reasons for the determination. Unless the individual files an appeal of the determination within 20 calendar days following the receipt of the notice, or, within 24 days after the notice was mailed to the individual's last known address, the determination shall be final.
(b) If the individual received the overpayment of benefits because of an error made by the division, the employer or the physician, and if the individual did not knowingly misrepresent or withhold any material fact to obtain the benefits, the following limits shall apply:
(1) The amount withheld from any subsequent benefit check shall be an amount not greater than 50% of the amount of the check; and
(2) Any repayments of the overpayments by the individual or the estate of the individual may be waived, but all repayments of overpayments shall be waived in cases in which the individual is deceased or permanently disabled.
Any demand for repayment from an individual pursuant to this subsection shall include an explanation of the provisions of this subsection.
L.1997, c.318, s.2; amended 2008, c.17, s.9; 2019, c.37, s.25.