Whitehall, PA Workers’ Compensation Lawyer

Our Workers’ Compensation lawyers can take your case if you have been injured in an accident at work.  We fight insurance companies and employers to get benefits for our clients that pay for medical treatments, lost earnings, and other benefits.

For workers whose injuries left them totally disabled – permanently or temporarily – benefits should cover medical treatment and 2/3 of your lost earnings in most cases.  For partially disabled workers who can work with accommodations, benefits should be 2/3 of what you made before and after the injury, plus medical care costs.  Additional payments for permanent losses, lost function, lost vision/hearing, and facial scars are available, too.

For a free case review, call (267) 651-7945 to speak with Cardamone Law’s Certified Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation Specialists.

What Workers Are Covered Under Workers’ Comp in Whitehall?

Whitehall has a mix of industries, from retail to construction/trades work to shipping to healthcare, and more.  Across these professions, there are a few types of workers who do and do not qualify for benefits, though the line between them is not always clear.

“Employees” should qualify for benefits after a work-related injury that leaves them disabled.  An “employee” is a worker who has their work controlled and overseen by their boss/supervisor and is usually paid under their own name hourly or with a salary.

“Independent contractors” are not typically covered.  Some construction contractors are “independent contractors,” as are many other freelancers and some delivery drivers.  The distinction is that contractors are essentially self-employed and often work under a company name, control their own work, and work for a price to deliver a service or product rather than under constant supervision.

Workers’ Compensation is also a state system, and federal workers are on a different system.  This means postal workers, for example, are not covered.

Lastly, most employees count as “employees,” including seasonal and part-time employees.  However, “casual employees” often do not need coverage.

Medical Coverage Under Workers’ Compensation

When your injury stems from work tasks, your employer should cover your treatment.  Under Workers’ Comp, medical benefits should pay for all of these and more:

• Emergency treatment
• Follow-up care
• Physical therapy
• Psychiatric care
• Medications
• Crutches/wheelchairs.

For your first 90 days, you must choose a provider from your employer’s approved provider list.  This list usually includes a few doctors, but some might be Workers’ Comp specialists or other care providers, such as physical therapists.

If you need to see a specialist and one is not listed, you can choose your own.  If you need surgery, you can choose your second-opinion doctor, but the care provider on the list still carries out the surgery.

After 90 days, you can choose your own providers.  Nearly any treatment a licensed provider prescribes and performs can be paid for, potentially including medical marijuana, acupuncture, and more.  If your employer refuses coverage, we can challenge that in court.

Lost Earnings Under Workers’ Comp in Whitehall

Our Workers’ Compensation attorneys can help you get benefits paid to cover most of your lost wages.  Benefits never cover 100%, but 2/3 is the standard rate.

Calculations start with your average weekly wage (AWW) from before the injury.  If you are partially disabled, your wage-loss benefit is 2/3 of the difference between pre- and post-injury AWWs.  If you are totally disabled, you get 2/3 of your pre-injury AWW.

The statewide AWW, set by law each year, is an upper cap.  If your benefits would be under half this amount, you instead get half the statewide AWW or 90% of your wage, whichever is lower.

Wage-loss benefits are paid as long as you are totally disabled or for up to 500 total weeks of partial disability (not necessarily consecutive).  Benefits can switch between the two if your status changes.

Specific Loss Benefits

Benefits are paid on top of these other payments for amputations, permanent loss, lost function, facial scars, and lost hearing/vision.  The Workers’ Comp Act sets a number of weeks for each listed injury, and you receive 2/3 of your wages for that many weeks.

For example, a lost eye or lost vision in one eye pays 2/3 wages for 275 weeks and a lost thumb pays 100 weeks.

Calculating Settlements for Workers’ Comp

Employers and Workers’ Comp insurance carriers often want to settle instead of keeping cases ongoing.  This can benefit you, too, by letting you control the money and potentially take up employment again without oversight, medical exams, and challenges to your benefits.

All settlements must be reviewed by a Workers’ Comp Judge.  This ensures your lawyer’s fees are fair, that they get no more than 20% of your settlement as payment, and that you understand your rights.

However, making sure the amount is fair is something our lawyers do for you.  We will calculate how much your lost earnings, your future medical bills, and your specific loss benefits are worth.  This often involves medical exams and projections from experts regarding how much longer you could be disabled versus how much longer you would have worked without the disability.

All in all, these settlements have to account for these full values or else they are too low.  We can advise you on when to accept and negotiate for a better settlement.

Qualifying Injuries Workers’ Comp Covers in Whitehall

Workers’ Compensation is meant to cover any “work-related” injury.  This means that if it happened during your work tasks or at your place of work, it should likely be covered.

Injuries from slip and falls to burns to repetitive stress injuries to cancer can all be covered.  As long as we can link the injury to tasks at work, the specific type of injury should not stop benefits.

Importantly, injuries from all sources should also be covered.  You cannot typically sue an employer, and you cannot sue yourself.  However, you can still get Workers’ Comp benefits for injuries you or your employer cause.  You can even get benefits for injuries caused by outside sources.

Call Our Workers’ Comp Lawyers in Whitehall, PA Today

Call (267) 651-7945 for your free case evaluation with Cardamone Law’s Workers’ Compensation attorneys.