Can You Get Workers’ Comp and Unemployment in Pennsylvania?

If you are out of work, there may be multiple programs and policies that cover you and provide you with wage assistance or wage replacement during that time.  Two of the biggest programs that are supposed to apply to everyone in Pennsylvania regardless of what benefits their employers provide are Workers’ Compensation and unemployment insurance – but can you get both at the same time?

It might seem contradictory, but you can get Workers’ Comp and unemployment at the same time.  While Workers’ Comp is for those who cannot work and unemployment is for those who are currently out of a job but seeking work, the technical rules for these programs do allow you to get benefits from both at the same time.  However, there are “offsets” that apply to reduce your overlapping benefits so you do not get paid double, which often makes it not worth it at all to get unemployment while you’re on Workers’ Comp.

For help with your Workers’ Comp case, contact Cardamone Law’s Certified Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation Lawyers at (267) 651-7945.

Are Workers’ Comp and Unemployment Compatible in Pennsylvania?

If you are unable to work because of an injury, you may have short-term or long-term disability benefits through your employer, and you might be eligible for SSI or SSDI from the federal government.  Two programs, however, are required to apply to practically every employee in Pennsylvania: Workers’ Compensation, which covers lost earnings and medical bills after a work injury, and unemployment insurance, which covers replacement wages when you lose your job.  If you lose your job after a work injury, then both programs should cover you, but it isn’t immediately obvious that these programs are actually compatible.

Eligibility for Workers’ Comp

To get Workers’ Compensation, you need to have suffered a work-related injury.  To get ongoing wage-loss benefits from Workers’ Comp, you need to have an injury that keeps you from working.  When that happens, you are considered totally or partially disabled, and our Philadelphia Workers’ Comp lawyers can help you get benefits on the grounds that you want to work and want to remain a part of the workforce but currently cannot work because of your disability.  Even if you are permanently disabled, it is still important to maintain that you would work if you could, as retiring or leaving the workforce – or otherwise indicating that you would not take a job if you could perform it – would actually make you ineligible for Workers’ Comp.

Eligibility for Unemployment

On the other hand, unemployment insurance is there to cover workers who are temporarily out of work through no fault of their own but who are willing and able to work.  It would seem that if you are disabled from a work injury that you are not, in fact, able to return to work.  However, this minor hiccup isn’t actually considered automatically disqualifying.  You still need to qualify for unemployment insurance, given the rest of the facts of your situation, but a physical injury or disability actually is not disqualifying.

Maintaining Eligibility for Both

It is vital, however, that you maintain an attitude of wanting to work and that you keep up with all other requirements for both programs to maintain eligibility.  Something like a Workers’ Comp settlement might essentially be considered quitting or retiring, and that might hurt your eligibility for unemployment if you are deemed to have refused work that was available to you.

Laws Dealing with Simultaneous Benefits

If you still aren’t convinced that you can get Workers’ Comp and unemployment at the same time, look no further than § 204 of the Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation Act, which gives specific instructions on how your benefits are treated if you receive Workers’ Comp and unemployment at the same time.  This section wouldn’t make any sense if you couldn’t get both of these benefits at the same time.

Offsets for Unemployment and Workers’ Comp in Pennsylvania

If you do qualify for both unemployment and Workers’ Comp, § 204 gives instructions on how these benefits are offset so that you do not get paid double.  While Workers’ Comp usually covers up to 2/3 of your lost wages (or up to 90% in some cases), unemployment insurance can often cover half of your previous wage, all subject to other calculation rules and caps.  This basically means that if you were getting money from both sources, you would be making 1 1/6 of your normal wage.  To counter this, the Workers’ Comp rules drop down how much your employer needs to pay while you are on unemployment.

Under § 204(a), any money from unemployment benefits is “credited as against” Workers’ Comp’s lost wage benefits.  This means that, essentially, unemployment benefits are paid first, then your employer pays whatever is left to get you up to your Workers’ Comp wages.  So you still max out at 2/3 of your normal weekly wage instead of getting the extra 1/2 wage from unemployment on top.

Note that unemployment benefits do not count against or credit against the other “specific loss” benefits you might receive from Workers’ Comp to pay you for an amputation, lost function, lost hearing, lost sight, or facial scarring.  These benefits are paid separately and suffer no reductions or credits from unemployment.

Should You Get Unemployment and Workers’ Comp at the Same Time in Pennsylvania?

Even though you can get benefits from both programs at the same time, it usually is not worth it to do so.  When you qualify for Workers’ Comp benefits, they pay more than what unemployment would be paying anyway, and the credit against your Workers’ Comp benefits means that unemployment will never pay you extra above what Workers’ Comp pays.  At the same time, maintaining eligibility for unemployment often means putting in job applications and doing extra paperwork to keep your payments – something that isn’t necessary if you are already getting paid through Workers’ Comp instead.

There may be reasons to apply for unemployment while you wait for your Workers’ Comp benefits to start, but there is usually no benefit to keeping your unemployment checks after the Workers’ Comp checks start coming in unless our attorneys can find a good reason to do so in your specific case.

Call Our Workers’ Compensation Lawyers in Pennsylvania Today

For help with your case, call the Allentown, PA Workers’ Comp attorneys at Cardamone Law at (267) 651-7945.