Breinigsville Workers’ Compensation Lawyer

In and around Breinigsville you can find some of the biggest employers in Lehigh County and throughout the state.  Whether you work in a warehouse, a hospital, in agriculture, or anywhere else in the area, you are likely covered by Workers’ Compensation.  This should pay your medical expenses and cover your lost wages while you cannot work, but getting your employer to accept your claim might be hard.

Our lawyers work to get claims accepted.  We also fight insurance carriers who deny claims or file in court to have your benefits cut off.  Work with us to help protect your benefits and get you and your family the ongoing wages you need after a serious work injury.

For a free review of your potential case, call Cardamone Law’s Certified Workers’ Compensation Specialists at (267) 651-7945 today.

What Does Workers’ Comp Cover in Breinigsville, PA?

The Workers’ Compensation system covers the same benefits throughout the Commonwealth, with benefits paid to injured workers to cover both medical bills and lost wages.  However, benefits might be paid a bit differently for “specific loss” injuries and in cases of death.

Medical Benefits

Injuries that are serious enough to require medical attention can cost a lot of money to treat.  If every worker were required to cover their own expenses out of pocket, many would likely go bankrupt.  To alleviate this, Workers’ Comp is required to cover all medical bills linked to a work-related injury.

This means covering your emergency treatment, hospital stays, surgeries, rehabilitation, physical therapy, occupational therapy, mental health therapy, medication, medical devices, follow-up visits, and other care.  Our Workers’ Compensation lawyers can help you understand what limits might be placed on this care – such as a requirement to use a doctor that your employer chose for the first 90 days of care – and other restrictions.  However, this coverage is intended to be quite broad, so most of your care should be covered unless you make specific choices to go outside the Workers’ Comp system for care.

Lost Earnings

If you cannot continue to work – whether for a limited period, a long term, or a permanent basis – Workers’ Comp is supposed to cover replacement wages.  These “wage-loss” benefits should pay you 2/3 of your average wages, with a cap at the statewide average weekly wage.  Additionally, if your pay is below a certain limit, then your percentage of benefits goes up and caps out at 90% instead.

In 2024 numbers, wage-loss benefits cap out at $1,325 per week (the statewide average) for earners making $1,987.50 per week or more.  If you make down to $993.76 per week, you receive 2/3 of your wage as benefits.  If your wages range from $736.11 to $993.75 per week, your benefit is $662.50 per week.  If you make under that lower range, you receive 90% of your wages as a weekly benefit.

Wages are not paid at 100% for Workers’ Comp to account for the fact that you are receiving medical benefits and that you do not have to prove your employer caused your injuries.  In fact, you can even receive these benefits if the accident was your fault (though it must be accidental).

Specific Loss Benefits

In cases where your injury is an amputation or loss of function in a body part, the wage-loss benefits work a bit differently.  While benefits usually pay as long as you cannot work, many people with amputations do go back to work even though you are not technically “healed.”  Some people who lose something like a finger or toe might be able to even return to work more quickly than expected without facing much lost time at work.  To account for this, the Workers’ Compensation Act sets a number of weeks’ worth of benefits you receive for specific injuries.

For example, the loss of a leg pays 410 weeks of benefits, and the loss of a forearm pays 370 weeks of benefits.  These benefits are 2/3 of your normal wage.  Other specific loss payments can be found in the “schedule” of benefits under § 306 of the Workers’ Comp Act.

Death Benefits

If your loved one died in a work accident or later succumbed to injuries from a work accident, your family could be entitled to benefits.  These usually cover a reasonable amount for funeral and burial costs, plus ongoing benefits for the family.  The amount you receive depends on how many dependents your family has.  These benefits are paid based on percentages of the deceased worker’s wages assigned to the number of children or dependents.

Usually, this pays benefits to widows/widowers and children, but you can also get benefits paid to other family in some cases.  For example, if the worker took care of their parents, the parents might receive these benefits instead.  If the worker had no spouse and their children were put in the care of a different guardian, the benefits could go to the guardian to continue to provide for the deceased worker’s children.

Proof Needed for a Workers’ Comp Claim in Breinigsville

When you file your claim, you need to prove a few things – and you importantly do not need to prove who was at fault (with some caveats):

Proof of Fault

Workers’ Comp does not require proof of fault like you would need in a lawsuit or in many insurance claims.  This coverage system pays benefits regardless of who caused the workplace injury, and you do not need to prove that your employer – or any other party – was specifically at fault before you get benefits.

However, they will investigate fault if the insurance carrier believes that you caused the accident intentionally or that drug use, alcohol use, or criminal activity was involved.  These are grounds for denial.

Proof that Injury Was Work-Related

Workers’ Comp only covers work-related injuries.  This means injuries that happened because of work tasks or working conditions.  Preexisting injuries made worse by work accidents also count in many cases.  However, injuries at home, on the weekend, or during your commute to/from work typically do not get covered.

Proof of Disability

If you cannot prove that your injury keeps you from working, then you likely cannot get wage-loss benefits.  If you can return to work at full capacity, they will not cover your lost wages.  If you can return only at partial capacity, you might still get some partial coverage.

Call Our Workers’ Compensation Attorneys in Breinigsville Today

If you were hurt at work, contact the Workers’ Compensation attorneys at Cardamone Law by calling (267) 651-7945.