WORKERS’ COMPENSATION

If an injury is work-related and your disability results in wage loss, you may receive weekly benefits for the duration of your disability and possibly for the rest of your life.

The law entitles an employee disabled by a work-related injury to receive 80% of the after-tax value of the worker’s average weekly wage. Generally, this amount is about 60% of the gross weekly wage, but cannot exceed 90% of the State’s average weekly wage for the year in which the injury occurs. However, additional factors are involved in the calculation, such as the injured employee’s federal income tax filing status and the number of the injured employee’s dependent(s), if any.

In most cases, the average weekly wage is calculated by adding the total wages earned during the highest-paying 39 weeks of the 52 weeks before the occurrence of the work-related injury. This total is then divided by 39 to yield the average weekly wage.

If the fringe benefits continue to be paid by the employer following the injury, their value is not included. But if the fringe benefits are terminated, their value is added to the cash wage to determine the total average weekly wage. There are limits, however, to the extent to which the value of discontinued fringe benefits may increase the average weekly wage.

If these benefits are paid for by your employer, whether entirely or partially, there will be a reduction of your weekly workers’ compensation benefit to the extent of the after-tax value of the employer-financed benefits you receive. If you receive unemployment compensation benefits, these will be subtracted on a dollar-for-dollar basis from your weekly workers’ compensation benefits.

Yes, when you turn 65, or if you are injured when you are 65 or more years of age, the weekly benefit will be reduced 5% for each year that you are 65 or more years of age. The maximum age-based reduction that can be imposed is 50% of the full weekly benefit.

If both employers are covered by the Workers’ Disability Compensation Act, your average weekly wage will be based on the wages earned at both employers. This may increase your weekly workers’ compensation benefit amount.

During the 28-day period following a work-related injury, the employer is entitled to choose the health care providers. If the employee rejects the employer-selected health care providers, and receives medical care elsewhere, the employee will be responsible for the charges incurred. After the 28-day period following a work-related injury, the employee may change doctors if (s)he wishes. But (s)he must give the employer the name(s) of the new health care provider(s).

No. The Workers’ Disability Compensation Act does not require employers to pay injured workers for pain and suffering.

If an employee’s death is work-related, the law entitles his or her dependent(s) to 500 weeks of weekly benefits, subject to the various provisions of the law.

In order to begin a workers’ compensation case, an Application for Mediation or Hearing must be filed so you should immediately contact our office because you will need the assistance of experienced workers’ compensation attorneys.

When our law firm represents injured workers and their dependents in workers’ compensation cases we do not charge a fee “up front,” i.e., in advance of filing the case. Our legal fee is set by law. The fee is based on the amount of benefits recovered and the procedural posture of the case at the time the benefits are recovered, i.e., before trial, during trial, after trial, or settlement without trial. If a case is settled without a trial, the injured worker’s attorney is entitled to a fee of 15% of the first $25,000.00 recovered and 10% of the benefits recovered that exceed $25,000.00. Before calculating the fee, the law also requires the attorney to subtract his or her litigation costs from the total amount recovered.

If you can show that you were injured because of the negligence of someone other than your employer or a co-worker, you may file a damage action in the civil courts against the allegedly negligent party. If you receive workers’ compensation benefits from your employer or its workers’ compensation carrier and later recover damages from a third party, your employer or its carrier may be entitled to a portion of your damage recovery.

While there is generally no time limit within which a workers’ compensation case must be started, the law limits the length of time preceding the filing date for which benefits may be awarded. If the case is filed and you have not received benefits, the law limits benefit payments to the two-year time period preceding the case’s filing date. But if you received benefits before filing the case, the law limits benefits to the one-year time period preceding the case’s filing date.