Scranton Work Injury & Workers’ Comp. Lawyers

Workers injured in accidents while carrying out their job duties are supposed to be compensated for their medical bills and some of their lost wages through Workers’ Compensation. When this system works right, there is no need to prove fault or file a lawsuit; your employer files the claim and pays your benefits without questioning fault. In reality, this system rarely works smoothly, and insurance companies and employers work to deny claims.

Our Certified Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation Specialists can fight to get you the coverage you need and fight your employer if they deny your benefits or try to limit them in any way. Our attorneys only do Workers’ Comp cases and can put our experience and specialized practice to work for you.

For a free case analysis, contact Cardamone Law’s Workers’ Comp Lawyers at (267) 651-7945.

Your Rights as an Injured Worker in Scranton, PA

The Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation Act promises you certain rights as an injured worker in Scranton and across the Commonwealth.

Reporting the Injury

You have the right to report your injury to your supervisor/employer; there is no need to keep what happened to you a secret. You should do it as soon as possible, but the law gives you 120 days to give your employer notice.

Medical Treatment

You have the right to receive appropriate medical care for as long as you need. Your medical bills are compensated by your employer under the law. Coverage here should pay for more than just doctor’s appointments, including surgeries, therapies, medications, and more.

Wage-Loss Compensation

If your work-related injury causes you to miss work, you are entitled to receive wage-loss benefits to protect your livelihood. These benefits do not cover 100% of your wages, but your medical care would likely cost far more than the portion of your wages that goes unreimbursed through this system.

Specific Loss Benefits

You are entitled to receive specific benefits if your injury or illness results in the permanent loss of a limb or use of a particular body part or function.

Vocational Rehabilitation

If your work-related injury prevents you from returning to your previous job, you have the right to receive vocational rehabilitation to get training and job assistance services to enter a new work field.

Legal Assistance and Representation

You have the right to hire a Workers’ Comp attorney to represent you in your claim and offer you legal assistance in court and during negotiations. Our attorneys exclusively focus our practice on Workers’ Comp cases and are more than happy to take your case.

Protection Against Retaliation

The Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation Act prohibits employers from retaliating against you for filing a work injury claim. Any such attempt by your employer is unlawful and discriminatory and can be reported to the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry.

What is Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation, How to Qualify for it in Scranton

Workers’ Compensation is a state-wide system of workers’ insurance designed to pay for injured workers’ medical treatment and lost earnings in cases of occupational injuries and illnesses. This is a no-fault system and provides relief to injured workers in Scranton regardless of which party caused the accident.

Who Pays Benefits?

The actual setup of this system requires your employer to pay out the money for your medical care and to provide you with a portion of your wages, even if you cannot work. Usually, they will have an insurance carrier who provides them with the money to cover your needs rather than having to pay for the care out of their pocket, which helps Workers’ Comp be administered even for small businesses that might not be able to absorb the costs of a worker’s injuries.

Qualifying Injuries

You qualify for benefits under this system if you were an employee (not an independent contractor) and the injury or illness was work-related. The legal test for work-relatedness is usually just a question of how and where the injury happened. If it happened during your work tasks or because you were doing something your job required, it will usually qualify as “work-related.” This excludes injuries that occur during your commute or off-duty time in most cases.

The location of the injury is less important, as many workers are still “working” even when they are not present at their place of business. For example, if your job takes you to multiple job sites in a day or requires you to drive around for work, you are still “at work” even if you are not physically at the office with your company’s name on the door.

Keep in mind that the actual form of your injury should not make a difference; this law covers all kinds of injuries, from back injuries to broken bones to traumatic brain injuries to amputation. No injury is too big, but some injuries are, in fact, too small. Workers’ Comp should pay for medical treatment even for small injuries, but it does not have to pay you wage-loss injuries unless you miss 7 days of work or more, and it does not pay for the first 7 days unless you are out for 14 days. Even so, your medical care should still be covered.

Employer Denials

If you are dealing with an employer or insurer who claims you cannot be compensated because the injury is your own fault, they are misinterpreting the law. Any time an employer-employee relationship is involved, your boss must pay under the Workers’ Compensation Act. If you caused the injury by accident, it should still be covered; it must be intentional or have other issues (e.g., intoxication) for your employer to cut you off.

There are many employers who will try to deny benefits by misclassifying workers as independent contractors, but their cases often do not hold up in court. While there are some limited exceptions where Workers’ Comp does not apply, they usually apply only to casual workers, realtors, longshoremen, and employees of federal agencies and employers (e.g., the Post Office).

Employers might also deny your claim by saying that your injuries were not work-related. Suppose they claim that you injured yourself outside of work and are only trying to pass it off as a work injury. In that case, our lawyers can help you collect evidence and testimony about what happened during the accident and show your employer or their insurance carrier that you are telling the truth. If it comes to it, we can petition a Workers’ Compensation Judge to adjudicate the case instead of relying on the insurance carrier to accept your claim.

Suppose insurance denies your claim for wage-loss benefits but grants your medical coverage. In that case, we can also appeal that decision by providing evidence that you are, in fact, unable to work. There may be other types of denials and partial denials that our Certified Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation Specialists can also challenge in your case.

What to Do if You Are Forced Back to Work too Early After an injury in Scranton

One of the most awful things we witness is when employers try to force their injured workers to return to work before they are fully healed or ready. Not only does this go against the law, but it also forces workers to take extra steps to prove that they are still injured. This is frustrating and improper. If you have been a victim of this, know that you do not have to give in to the pressure. The law is on your side and offers you time and resources to get better.

As mentioned above, one way that this happens is when an employer approves your injury and pays for your medical care but denies that you are disabled by your injury. Workers’ Compensation is supposed to pay for lost wages whenever your injury keeps you from returning to work or reduces your earning potential.

There are particular processes laid out in the Workers’ Comp Act for how to determine disability status and “impairment ratings” to test whether a worker is truly unable to work or not. If your earning power is reduced, then you should be entitled to full or partial wage-loss benefits, depending on the level of disability. If you can still work to an extent, you may be able to receive partial benefits.

The problem arises when your employer or their carrier refuses to accept the doctor’s determination, when their own doctor refuses to approve your disability, or when they ask for periodic reviews of your disability status in order to try to force you back to work.

Our attorneys are often able to intervene by putting the decision before a judge, gathering additional evidence, seeking outside medical opinions, and pushing doctors to make determinations that meet the legal standards laid out in the Act if they have not already done so. This can give you the time you need to finish your recovery in peace and get back to work only when you are ready.

Contact Our Scranton Workers’ Compensation Specialists

For help with a work injury, call Cardamone Law at (267) 651-7945 and get a free case review from our Workers’ Compensation attorneys.