Officer Maria Adamopoulos of the Ocean County Department of Corrections in New Jersey was on temporary disability leave due to a work-related injury from January 2022 through January 2023. Upon her return, she was denied full holiday pay for the thirteen official holidays that occurred during her leave, receiving only 70% of her pay for those days — the same rate as her workers’ compensation wage replacement benefits. The Policemen’s Benevolent Association, Local 258, filed a grievance, asserting that Article 12 of the parties’ collective bargaining agreement guaranteed all full-time officers the enumerated holidays “with pay,” a benefit separate from wages that should continue during any leave.
Arbitrator James M. Cooney agreed with the PBA. He found the contract language “clear and unambiguous” and concluded the holiday pay was a contractual benefit available to all members, not compensation for work. “The [Workers’ Compensation] Act and its exclusivity provision did not preempt the recovery sought by the PBA,” Arbitrator Cooney ruled, ordering the County to pay Adamopoulos for the thirteen holidays at 100% of her regular rate.
The County successfully petitioned the Superior Court of New Jersey, Law Division, to vacate the award, arguing that it was procured by “undue means” and violated public policy by conflicting with the Workers’ Compensation Act. The trial court held that temporary disability benefits “are paid in lieu of wages,” implying holiday pay was subsumed within that wage replacement.
The New Jersey Superior Court, Appellate Division reversed, applying a highly deferential “reasonably debatable” standard to review the Arbitrator’s decision. The Court found his interpretation of the contract was at minimum justifiable. Central to its reasoning was the distinction between a wage and a benefit. The Court noted that Article 12 grants holiday pay to all full-time officers irrespective of whether they work that day, while providing additional premium wages to those who do work. “Had the holiday pay been available only to those employees who actually worked on that date, the Court’s interpretation of holiday pay as compensation preempted by the Workers’ Compensation Act’s ‘payment in lieu of wages’ language would have been persuasive,” the Court wrote. “However, the plain language of Article 12 demonstrates employees who work on those holidays are entitled to hourly wages, above the payment of the negotiated benefit.”
The Court also found support in the parties’ past practice, noting the County had paid full holiday pay to employees on other forms of leave, including to Adamopoulos herself previously. The lack of any qualifying language in the contract excluding employees on workers’ compensation leave, coupled with the ability to negotiate such a limitation, bolstered the arbitrator’s award. The Court concluded the award was not procured by undue means nor against public policy, reversed the trial court, and reinstated Arbitrator Cooney’s decision.
Ocean County Dep’t of Corr. v. Policemen’s Benevolent Ass’n, Loc. 258, 2025 WL 2938311 (N.J. Super. Ct. App. Div. Oct. 16, 2025).