Worker’s Compensation FAQs

The Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation Act provides wage loss benefits for individuals who are injured at work and unable to continue working (either temporarily or permanently) due to the work injury. In many situations, injured individuals are also eligible for Social Security Disability benefits or other wage benefits. The overlap of these benefits can be confusing for individuals who are inexperienced with workers’ compensation laws and Social Security laws.

Most injured workers receiving workers’ compensation benefits will receive wage loss benefits equaling approximately two-thirds of their weekly wages (of what they were earning prior to becoming injured). However, when a worker is collecting other wage benefits, in addition to their workers’ compensation benefits, the injured worker may only be eligible for partial wage loss benefits.

For example, 50 percent of a worker’s Social Security retirement benefits may be credited against the individual’s workers’ compensation wage loss benefits. Injured workers may also see deductions to their wage loss benefits due to other benefits they may be receiving, including:

• Unemployment compensation
• Employer-paid portion of retirement pension
• Severance pay
• Short-term disability benefits
• Long-term disability benefits

Our lawyers can analyze your situation, keeping in mind applicable deductions you may receive due to other wage benefits you are receiving, and we can provide informative advice tailored to your situation.

A. When you get injured on the job, find your nearest supervisor, manager or authority figure and report the injury immediately. If nobody is available, leave a phone message for one of these individuals detailing exactly how you injured yourself and follow up with them the next day. YOU MUST REPORT THE WORK INJURY TO THE PERSON IN CHARGE OF YOU UNLESS YOUR COMPANY HAS SPECIFIC REPORTING PROCEDURES FOR WORK INJURIES.

B. Be very specific when you report the injury to your employer. Explain exactly how you injured yourself on the job and include all of the body parts you hurt. It is better to report all injuries even if you think they are not a big deal at the time. Many small aches and pains turn into bigger problems down the road.

C. Ask your employer for an incident report and make sure you are specific when describing the work injuries. Make sure to put the date when you injured yourself on the form. ALWAYS ASK FOR A COPY OF THE DOCUMENT, ESPECIALLY IF YOUR JOB FILLS IT OUT FOR YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You can print out an Employee Incident Report Form from our website and use it if your employer does not provide one to you by clicking here for a copy of our incident report.

D. Seek medical attention as soon as you can. Your job should send you to a panel physician, company nurse or hospital. If they do not provide you with a list of doctors, go to the nearest hospital and get treatment.

E. You have 120 days from the time you get injured to report a work injury. The quicker you report the work injury the better off you will be. DO NOT DELAY.

A. The most recent version of the Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation Act requires employees to treat with a medical provider on the employer’s list of designated doctors for 90 days. The list of medical providers must be clearly posted in the workplace. Additionally, your employer must get WRITTEN ACKNOWLEDGEMENT of the designated doctor list at the time of hire and again when you get injured. Please refer to the checklist below. If you answered no to any of these questions, you can treat with a doctor of your choosing.

Checklist:

• Is a list of panel doctors posted at my work?
• Did I sign a written acknowledgement at the time I was hired?
• Did I sign a written acknowledgement at the time of my work injury?

B. If the panel doctor recommends surgery, notify your employer and the workers’ compensation insurance carrier that you would like a second opinion. The workers’ compensation insurance carrier should pay for the visit for the second opinion. It is important to choose a doctor who specializes in surgery for the area of the body you injured.

C. Once you get the opportunity to treat with your own doctor, try to pick a specialist who deals with the specific part of the body you injured. Today, physicians specialize in all different types of medicine. We will be happy to refer you to a doctor who specializes in the type of injury you have. Once you obtain a new doctor, notify the workers’ compensation insurance carrier and your employer that you have switched your treatment.

D. Always ask for a copy of the medical report from the doctor who is treating you. If they provide you with a prescription note, please keep a copy for your records. It is very important to keep copies of all of your medical records.

E. Always ask your doctor to fill out a physical capabilities form which defines your physical restrictions. Keep a copy for your records and provide one copy to your employer. A physical capacities form notifies your employer what physical accommodations should be made for you.

F. When you get to choose your own doctor, you may be asked for a second form of insurance. This typically means that the doctor wants workers’ compensation insurance information as well as your private insurance. In the event that workers’ compensation denies payment for medical treatment, your private insurance will act as a back-up insurance.

A. There are no guarantees that your injury will be accepted by the workers’ compensation insurance carrier. If your work injury is accepted and your doctor removes you from work, then you will begin receiving Temporary Total Disability Benefits (TTD). A calculation will be done to determine your compensation rate. You will either receive two-thirds of what your gross earnings are per week or 90 percent if your gross earnings are less than a set amount of money per week. For the calendar year 2008 if you earn $448.32 or less per week then your TTD benefit will be 90 percent of the gross amount of your earnings. If you earn $448.33 or more then you will receive two-thirds of your gross earnings per week.

B. If you are working light duty and earning less than your preinjury wage then the workers’ compensation insurance carrier will pay you two-thirds of the difference between your preinjury wage and your post-injury wage. This is known as Partial Disability Benefits. It is important to remember that if you refuse to perform the light duty job because it pays less, you will jeopardize your entitlement to ongoing compensation checks.

C. It is a good idea to go to the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry website to review the section on temporary and partial disability benefits.

D. Unfortunately, your employer has no obligation to find you work that complies with the restrictions placed on you by your doctor. If they do not offer you light duty they should be paying you TTD benefits.

E. If your employer lays you off while you are on restrictions from your doctor, you should receive TTD benefits.

F. If you refuse to do a light duty job offered to you that your doctor says you can do, the workers’ compensation insurance carrier will file a Modification or Suspension Petition against you and try to reduce your TTD benefits or stop the TTD benefits all together. You will still be entitled to medical benefits.

G. It is a difficult decision to make when asked to return to work while you are injured. Ultimately, the decision is up to you and your doctor. However, your choice may impact your entitlement to workers’ compensation benefits. Contact your attorney to weigh your options before deciding what to do.

H. When you have an accepted work injury, your employer through their workers’ compensation insurance carrier must pay for reasonable and necessary medical expenses that relate only to your work injury. Your employer and the workers’ compensation insurance carrier have no obligation to continue paying for private medical coverage for you. If this is the case, please give your workers’ compensation attorney a call. Your lawyer can help you research how to get medical coverage for other health-related concerns.

If you were injured while working at your job in Pennsylvania, you may be wondering how to go about recovering compensation for your injuries. Many of the questions and concerns that you face are the same issues that many of our past clients have faced.

We have years of experience representing injured workers, and we are prepared to address your questions according to your individual circumstances. Contact us for personalized answers to queries such as:

• Will you have to sue your employer?
• Will this mean a breach of loyalty?
• Will your employer retaliate against you for filing a workers’ compensation claim? How can you protect yourself from this type of retaliation?
• Is there someone else other than your employer that you can file a claim against? If so, who? And how?

Generally speaking, we can reassure you here that if you file a workers’ compensation claim, this is not equivalent to suing your employer. Rather, you will be making a claim from your employer’s workers’ compensation insurance carrier. This is similar to the situation after a car accident, when you make a claim against another driver’s insurance company. Likewise, after a tornado strikes a house, the homeowners collect compensation from their homeowners insurance. Workers’ compensation insurance exists precisely to provide a safety net for workers while protecting employers from costly lawsuits.

An injured worker in Pennsylvania must understand the 120-day rule for notifying his or her employer of any work injury. Under Pennsylvania’s workers’ compensation laws, an injured worker has to notify his or her employer of the injury within 120 days of the injury. The clock starts ticking from the date of the injury. Failure to inform within this deadline will strip the injured worker of valuable compensation rights.

The Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation Act requires the injured worker to notify certain people of the injury. Notifying a co-worker about your injury is not enough. You must notify a supervisor or manager. Notice does not have to be in writing. In fact, the requirement in some cases can be fulfilled if your supervisor or manager witnesses your work injury accident. Each and every situation is different, so it is critical to consult with an attorney.

When you are hurt on the job or suffer from a work-related illness, workers’ compensation represents a crucial lifeline to help make ends meet. Unfortunately, many employers do not just deny workers’ compensation claims, they hold it against their workers for bringing a claim.

This type of behavior is illegal in Pennsylvania, and you have legal options to protect your right to file a workers’ compensation claim free of retaliation. We can help you determine the best way to proceed.

We have helped countless employees secure the workers’ compensation benefits they deserve and hold employers accountable. Contact us today for a consultation.

Retaliation Comes In Many Forms. We Can Help You Identify Them.

When you think of retaliation on the job, you may think about being fired for filing a workers’ comp claim. Instead of firing you, employers may try to get away with other forms of punishment. These can include:

• Denying you a raise or promotion
• Giving you a poor performance review without evidence
• Demoting you or reducing your pay
• Giving you extra work that you cannot handle in your condition
• Denying you benefits, such as vacation or paid sick time

If you are hurt or sick due to your work, you have enough to worry about without having to suffer the consequences of an employer holding your condition against you. Our lawyers can help you understand your rights and options for remedies under Pennsylvania law. Our firm was founded on protecting the rights of injured workers, and you will have aggressive advocates in your corner to ensure your ability to seek workers’ comp benefits is secure.

If you suffered a serious injury at work and are receiving workers’ compensation benefits, it is important that you receive the treatment you need to recover as best as you can. A termination petition filed by your employer or its insurance company, however, can put that treatment in doubt.

Our workers’ compensation attorneys routinely defeat termination petitions, allowing workers to seek the treatment they need without going into debt. With 11 locations, we are able to help all types of injured workers throughout Pennsylvania.

We Act Quickly To Protect Your Benefits

If you currently have an open workers’ comp claim, you can continue to receive treatment if your doctor thinks it is necessary. Employers and the insurance providers will often file termination petitions if they believe you have fully recovered.

If a termination petition has been filed against you, it is important that you act quickly to seek legal help. Our lawyers provide personal attention to every client, and they will work with you to develop a custom game plan for your treatment and defeating a termination petition. That means helping you receive the best medical treatment or physical therapy possible to help in your recovery and hopeful return to work.

If you have suffered an injury while at work, getting the medical treatment you need to recover from your injuries is critical. And it seems only fair to expect your employer to pay the bills for this treatment.

But the Pennsylvania workers’ compensation system is rather complicated at times. The process for getting medical care under this system can be cumbersome. We can help you pursue all of the workers’ comp benefits you may be eligible for — and that includes proper medical treatment.

Choosing a doctor

As an injured employee, your employer wants you to believe that there are certain limits on your ability to choose your own doctor. Under Pennsylvania workers’ compensation law, employers have the right to set up a list of designated doctors to provide treatment for work-related injuries or illnesses. But, they don’t have that right just because they think they do.

The truth is that employers and their workers’ compensation insurance companies want to control your treatment and will try every chance they get. The good news is — if they don’t set up the panel exactly right and jump through the right hoops — they do not have the right to tell you what doctor to see. Often, the employers do it wrong and still try to tell the injured worker where to treat. Do not fall into the trap of believing that you must treat with their doctor for 90 days after the injury. We want you to get the best medical care possible, from a doctor who you choose.

We know where they make their mistakes. We can advise you of your rights and protect them every step of the way.

Our attorneys have a proven record of strong advocacy for clients in situations like this. We can guide you through the process as you seek the full amount of workers’ comp coverage allowed by law.