NJ S3489

Prohibits public employers from discharging, harassing, discriminating, or retaliating against paid first responders who take or request leave related to a qualifying PTSD diagnosis.

Covers paid law enforcement officers, firefighters, emergency medical technicians, paramedics, first aid/rescue squad members, and 9-1-1 dispatchers employed by state, county, municipal, or other public entities.

PTSD diagnosis qualifies if memorialized in a Workers' Compensation Division order or diagnosed by a mental health professional as resulting from experiencing, witnessing, or vicarious exposure to trauma during job duties.

Employees whose fitness to return is documented by a mental health professional must be reinstated to their prior position and duties following PTSD-related leave.

Violations subject employers to civil fines of $5,000 for first offense and $10,000 for subsequent violations, plus potential injunctions, reinstatement, back pay, and attorney's fees, with a one-year statute of limitations.