Workers Compensation

All fifty states began to enact workers compensation legislation at the beginning of the twentieth century. Our country was turning from an agrarian society, where most people worked on farms, to an industrial nation, where most people went to work at a factory, mill or mine. Workers were getting injured at work and there was no law to provide compensation unless they could prove that their employer was negligent. Most work injuries were not the result of the employer’s negligence, so there was no compensation.

The Workers Compensation Act was enacted to resolve this problem. Under the Act, the worker only needs to prove he was injured at work to receive wage loss benefits and have his medical bills paid. On the other hand, there is no provision in the Act to compensate the worker for his pain and suffering.

For most work injuries in Pennsylvania there is no litigation and no attorney is needed. If you report your injury accurately when it occurs, follow prescribed treatment and return to work when you are able there is a strong likelihood that you will receive what you are legally entitled to without litigation or the need to hire an attorney. The attorney’s role is two-fold. First, if you have questions about workers compensation law we will talk to you over the phone or in person and there is no charge. Second, if you need an attorney for litigation or help with a settlement we can do that, and the fee is 20% of what is recovered.

Here are some important features of the Pennsylvania Workers Compensation Act:

1. Reporting the injury - under the Act, you are required to report the injury within 21 days to get full benefits and if you wait more than 120 days you cannot receive benefits. Realistically, you should report the injury immediately and accurately. Any delay in reporting can lead to a denial of benefits. If you get hurt report it!

2. Medical treatment - under Pennsylvania law you are required to treat only with doctors on your employer’s “panel.” Normally, your employer will initially send you to MedExpress or the emergency room. Further treatment may involve Occupational Medicine or a panel orthopedic surgeon. After 90 days, you can choose your own doctor.

3. Wage loss benefits - Wage loss benefits are paid at the rate of 66% of your gross weekly wage. These benefits are not taxable, so your wage rate will be only slightly less than when you were working. There is a minimum rate for low wage workers and a maximum rate for high earners. Except in the case of an extremely serious injury, benefits will only be paid for a total of 604 weeks. Specifically after 104 weeks (two years) your Employer can submit your case to a “Utilization Review.” Unless your injury is extremely serious your benefits will be limited to 500 more weeks. So. Except in the most extreme cases your wage loss benefits will only run for 604 weeks, or about 11 ½ years. There is no time limit on the payment of medical bills related to your work injury.

4. Payment for pain and suffering - Although there is no recovery from your Employer for your pain and suffering, this type of recovery is available if the work injury was the result of another party’s negligence. For example, if you are injured in a motor vehicle accident while working, if you slipped and fell on another entity’s property, if you were injured by a defective product or if you are injured at a job site by the employee of another sub-contractor these are all examples of situations where damages for pain and suffering can be recovered in addition to your wage loss and medical bill recovery.

5. Settling your workers compensation claim - The Pennsylvania workers compensation system is set up to encourage settlement of a workers compensation claim. Mediation of all claims is mandatory. Typically, the Employer will offer a substantial lump sum of money in return for the sacrifice of any future wage loss or medical payments. Settling can be a good idea if your Employer is trying to terminate your benefits and you don’t want to risk losing them for nothing. Also, if you have a permanent injury, but you have been approved for social security disability and either have a good plan to retire or to retrain yourself in an easier occupation a settlement can make sense. However, in many cases the client might be better off to simply receive the benefits until they run out and continue with their medical coverage.

6. Work related hearing loss - There is a specific provision in the Act that provides benefits for workers who have lost some of their hearing as the result of working in a noisy environment for a long period of time. Normally a worker will apply for these benefits around the time they retire. The Petition must be filed within three years of the date the worker was last exposed to the loud noise; this is not always the last day of work. Benefits are awarded in proportion to the severity of the hearing loss and are based on hearing testing. If you suspect that you have lost your hearing as the result of your exposure to loud noise at work, please look into a claim when you retire or change jobs. These recoveries can be substantial and are often missed when a worker is unaware of this right to recover benefits.