What is the Average Workers’ Comp Settlement for a Finger Injury in Pennsylvania?

When people are injured, they often want to know what their case will be worth.  However, “averages” are often impossible to obtain, and even when data is publicly available to calculate the average settlement for an injury, no case is truly “average,” and your benefits will always be based on the particulars of your case.

When calculating the appropriate settlement for a finger injury, we need to look at three factors (each of which has many sub-factors).  First, we need to know your income and how much time you missed at work (or will miss at work) because of the injury.  Second, we need to know how severe the injury was and whether it reached the point of amputation or total loss of function.  Lastly, we need to know how much your medical care both now and in the future will cost.  This info will be different for everyone but will help us calculate your specific Workers’ Comp settlement in your case.

Call Cardamone Law at (267) 651-7945 for a free case evaluation with our Certified Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation Lawyers.

Lost Wage Benefits for a Finger Injury in Pennsylvania Workers’ Comp Claims

Finger injuries might not be serious enough to result in lost earnings in every case.  A burn, deep cut, laceration, or bruise might be something that you can wrap up and get back to work with, potentially resulting in no lost time at work.  However, if your injury is more serious, it could result in time away from work to focus on healing.

Disabling Finger Injuries

Many finger injuries are quite serious and can lead to surgery, permanent nerve damage, lost function, or even amputation.  Injuries like degloving – where the skin and muscle are pulled off the bone – are incredibly serious and often result in partial or totally lost function, requiring at least a few days off of work to recover from surgery.  Similarly, injuries resulting in traumatic amputation or requiring surgical amputation often need a lengthy healing period as well.

Requirement for Lost Earnings

If your injury was serious enough to keep you out of work for more than 7 days, then you get lost-wage benefits for each of the days after that.  If your injuries keep you away from work for 14+ days, then our Philadelphia Workers’ Comp lawyers can get you benefits for those first 7 days, too.

Similarly, if your finger injury allows you to keep working but interferes with your work and causes you to go on reduced hours, take on light-duty work, or take a lower-paying position, you can get benefits for that reduction in income, too.

Calculating Wage-Loss Benefits

Calculations for lost earnings typically use your average weekly wage before the accident and pay you 2/3 of that value.  If you can work to some extent, you get 2/3 of the reduction in wages instead.  Some workers may have low enough wages that they can get more than 2/3, up to certain limits.  All lost wage benefits are also capped at the statewide average weekly wage, set by the state each year.

“Healing Periods” for Amputation

If you lose a finger or lose function in the finger, the Workers’ Comp Act sets an outside limit on your “healing period,” during which you can receive wage-loss benefits.  For partial or total loss of a thumb, this period is 10 weeks; for any other finger, it is 6 weeks.

Seriousness of Finger Injury & Benefits for Amputation in a Pennsylvania Workers’ Comp Claim

As mentioned, the seriousness of your injury will affect whether you can get back to work quickly or not.  However, Workers’ Compensation also pays additional damages called “specific loss” benefits to workers who face an amputation or total loss of function in a body part.  This means that the partial or total amputation of a finger can pay you additional benefits calculated in terms of a number of weeks’ worth of 2/3 your typical wages.

For any amputation, benefits are paid if it is permanent; a successful reattachment might not receive these benefits.  Total loss of function – such as from serious nerve damage – can also result in these benefits without physical amputation.  Lastly, if the amputation was partial, there are rules for losing “half” a finger – usually defined as any substantial part of the first segment of your thumb or amputation beyond the first joint of another finger.

Loss of a thumb pays 100 weeks of benefits, loss of a forefinger/index finger pays 50 weeks, loss of a middle finger pays 40 weeks, loss of a third/ring finger pays 30 weeks, and loss of a pinky/little finger pays 28 weeks.  For half a loss, the number of weeks is halved.  If you lose more than one finger or partial finger, the weeks add together.

Cost of Medical Expenses in an Average Workers’ Comp Settlement for a Finger Injury

One of the major goals of Workers’ Comp is to pay for the injured worker’s medical care.  When it comes to treating an amputation or serious finger injury, most of the treatment will be immediate, emergency care.  Your employer’s Workers’ Comp carrier is supposed to pay for this care whether the injury ultimately keeps you from working or not.

However, there will often be additional costs with serious finger injuries, too, such as rehabilitation, physical therapy, occupational therapy, and perhaps even prosthetics.  A settlement should account for these costs in full, including the ongoing or future costs of medical care.

Once you sign a settlement, your case is finished, and you cannot add more benefits later.  As such, it is often better to wait and get all of the care paid for before settling when it comes to injuries that might get worse or require additional treatment, debridement, or surgical amputation weeks, months, or years later.  Otherwise, our lawyers can help you calculate the total costs and include them in settlement negotiations.

Call Our Workers’ Comp Lawyers in Pennsylvania for Help Today

If you injured or lost a finger at work, call Cardamone Law’s Pittsburgh, PA Workers’ Comp attorneys at (267) 651-7945/