East Stroudsburg Workers’ Compensation Lawyer

Work injuries are primarily compensated through Workers’ Compensation. In Pennsylvania, this exclusive remedy is an alternative to a lawsuit, with rules in place to make employers pay for their employees’ work injuries without the worker needing to sue in court or prove who caused the accident. Instead, the focus is on getting injured workers the medical care they need, plus replacement wages, all on the employer’s dime.

Our attorneys exclusively represent workers in these claims – that is all our practice does. As such, we are allowed to call ourselves Certified Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation Specialists, a title that not every law firm can claim. And we can put our decades of experience and practice to work for you.

For help with your claim, call (267) 651-7945 for a free case evaluation with Cardamone Law’s Workers’ Comp lawyers today.

When to Contact a Workers’ Compensation Lawyer in East Stroudsburg, PA

It is never too early to get a lawyer after an injury. From the day of the accident, you might begin to face difficult pushback from your lawyer, and it is important to document everything, protect yourself, and get the medical care you are entitled to. Our lawyers can help you do that.

In the earliest stages of your work injury case, your first problem might be getting medical care in the first place. Some businesses are reluctant to let injured workers actually leave work, and they may ask you or a staff nurse to bandage you up and get you back to work when what you really need is a hospital. While our lawyers will likely not be able to come to your workplace and tell your employer to let you go, we can help you fight to get your hospital care covered in the days after the accident.

Workers’ Comp kicks in after you have been out of work for 7 days, so there is a short timeframe before you will need a lawyer to help you get the benefits you deserve. Our Workers’ Compensation lawyers can help you track your medical care, document your injuries, and report your accident to your employer early in the process to get your case moving forward. You must give your employer notice of your injuries within 120 days of the accident, so you should certainly have a lawyer by that point.

If you delay in calling a lawyer, you might find yourself facing court filings or denials before you know it. At that point, you should call us and get help with your case, or those denials could become the final decision. Our attorneys need to file timely appeals and petitions in order to get the outcome changed, and delays can mean losing your right to appeal.

What Benefits Does Workers’ Compensation Cover in East Stroudsburg, PA?

Workers’ Compensation is not a lawsuit. The payments you get from your case are technically not “damages” but benefits you are already entitled to as an employee under the Workers’ Compensation Act. This Act has four main areas of benefits that our lawyers can help injured workers and their families receive:

Medical Benefits

The cost of surgeries, hospital stays, physical therapy, mental health therapy, and other care to treat a work injury can be quite expensive. In many cases, your income might not even be enough to cover this care if you had to pay for it out of pocket, even with discounts and coverage from your health insurance. As such, your employer and their Workers’ Comp insurance carrier are required to pay for your medical care for you.

As long as you received your injury or developed a health condition or illness while working within the scope of your job duties, your employer should be required to pay for your treatment through Workers’ Comp.

Lost Wages

The wage-loss benefits you receive might not pay you for your entire wage while you are out of work, but you should still receive significant compensation for your lost earnings.

In most cases, Workers’ Comp pays 66 2/3% (or 2/3) of your lost wages. In cases of total disability where you cannot work at all for a limited period, these wages should continue until you are able to return. In cases of total loss of function in a body part or actual amputation/loss of the body part, calculations are different.

When calculating this 2/3, your average weekly wage from before your injury is used. Pennsylvania has a maximum benefit cap, so if your wages are over $1,987.50 per week, the maximum benefit for 2024 is 2/3 of that, thus $1,325 in weekly compensation. If your wages are $993.75 per week or lower but over $736.10, then you get 2/3 of that higher-end value instead – $662.50 – potentially resulting in up to 90% wages in benefits. For wages of $736.10 or lower, your benefit is also 90%.

This is less than 100%, but it often evens out given the fact that your medical care – which would often be far more expensive than 1/3 of your income – is covered.

Specific Loss Benefits

As mentioned above, benefits are paid differently for total loss injuries or actual loss injuries – i.e., injuries that result in total loss of function or actual amputation. This includes things like the amputation of a thumb, total crushing of your leg, or loss of an eye.

Instead of paying wages while you recover, these benefits are determined by a “schedule” within the Workers’ Compensation Act. On this schedule, the law provides 2/3 of your average wages for a set number of weeks, depending on the injury. For example, an index finger is 50 weeks, a foot is 250 weeks, and an eye is 275 weeks.

Death Benefits

If a loved one died in an accident at work or because of a work-related injury or illness, our lawyers can help your family receive benefits for their death, covering lost wages and reasonable funeral expenses.

Call Our Workers’ Compensation Attorneys for Help in East Stroudsburg, PA

Contact Cardamone Law today by calling (267) 651-7945 for a free case assessment with our Certified Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation Specialists.