Media Workers’ Compensation Lawyer

Workers who live in or work around Media, PA are typically subject to the rules of Workers’ Compensation when they are injured in a work-related accident.  This allows them to get benefits from their employer or their employer’s insurance carrier to cover their medical care and 2/3 of their lost wages, regardless of how the accident happened.

However, insurance carriers often unfairly deny claims, forcing victims to go to court to get the benefits they are entitled to.  Our attorneys represent injury victims and fight to get their benefits paid.

Call Cardamone Law to speak with our Certified Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation Specialists by dialing (267) 651-7945 today.

Examples of Injuries and Accidents Covered by Workers’ Comp in Media, PA

Workers’ Comp is designed to cover any injuries that an employee sustains within the scope of their job duties.  You may have already realized that this includes some limiting factors.  First, only employees – not independent contractors – are covered.  Second, the accident must have been related to your work, not something that happened on your off time.  Third, the accident typically must be an accident; you cannot get paid if you caused the injury intentionally, but you can if you caused it by accident.

Many different kinds of accidents and injuries can – and should – be covered under Workers’ Comp, including the following:

Workplace Violence

Although Workers’ Comp usually covers accidents, it can also cover injuries you sustained at work from assault and battery.  This would typically cover someone like a store clerk who was assaulted in a robbery, for example.

Back Injuries

Back injuries are one of the most common injuries sustained at work.  Whether that injury comes from carrying something, falling, or even prolonged sitting, it is work-related and should be covered.

Falls and Injuries from Unsafe Premises

Falls from icy sidewalks/parking lots, wet lobbies, wet catwalks, dirty/wet ladders, and all kinds of other potential hazards could easily lead to a slip and fall accident at work.  Similarly, unsafe electrical outlets, fire hazards, missing smoke detectors, collapsing structures, and general disrepair can all lead to other accidents that might cause you serious injuries at work.  The resulting injuries can range wildly for these accidents, but they should be covered.

Missing and Defective Safety Gear and Equipment

Many jobs require PPE (personal protective equipment) like goggles and helmets that have to be in proper working order to keep you safe.  Additionally, they have to be provided in the first place.  Whether you were injured because the equipment was not provided or because defective PPE was provided, you should be entitled to file a Workers’ Comp claim.

Additionally, other tools, machines, appliances, and vehicles you use in the course of your job need to be in safe, working order.  Again, whether the accident was your employer’s fault or a manufacturer’s fault, you can claim Workers’ Comp for the injuries.

Deadly Accidents

The family of someone killed in an accident at work is often entitled to claim death benefits from Workers’ Compensation for ongoing wage-loss benefits, burial expenses, and other payments related to their loved one’s tragic death.

How Long Workers’ Comp Benefits Can Last in Media

Workers’ Comp’s medical benefits should cover you as long as your injury still needs medical care.  Otherwise, we often talk about “how long” benefits last in terms of the wage-loss benefits you can receive.

These benefits typically pay 2/3 of the earnings you lost because of your injuries.  If you cannot work at all – i.e., you are totally disabled – then these benefits pay 2/3 of your wages as long as you cannot work.  If you can work to an extent or you are actually working – i.e., you are partially disabled – you get 2/3 of the difference between the wages you made before the accident and after.

Start Date

Wage-loss benefits can start accumulating when you are unable to work for more than 7 days.  Claims for very short-term periods are not covered, and you can only get benefits starting with the 8th day not working.  However, if your injury goes on for at least 14 days, you will eventually be paid for the first 7 days, too.

End of Lost Earning Capacity

If you return to work at your full capacity and have no further lost earning capacity, your Workers’ Comp benefits will usually stop.  This could happen within days, weeks, months, or even years of the injury.

End Date for Partial Disability

Partial disability benefits typically end after 500 weeks.  This is just short of 10 years.

End Date for Total Disability

Total disability benefits can last indefinitely, but it is rare for them to do so.  For you to keep receiving total disability benefits for years and years, you will have to periodically show that your injury still makes you “totally” disabled and has not been reduced to “partial” disability.

This is done through an independent medical examination (IME), where workers are given an impairment rating exam (IRE).  If you are found to have at least 35% impairment, you can keep receiving total disability benefits, but if your impairment rating is under 35%, your wage-loss benefits are reduced to partial disability benefits and end after 500 weeks maximum.

The first time the Workers’ Comp insurance carrier can request an IME comes after you have been receiving benefits for 2 years (104 weeks).  At that point, they can have you go to a maximum of two IMEs in a 12-month period, meaning that you might face ongoing IMEs twice a year for the rest of your life if you want to stay on total disability benefits.

Keep in mind, however, that total disability benefits are locked in at the value they started at.  That means that you will not get a cost-of-living adjustment or inflationary adjustment, and you will stay at 2/3 of the wages you made before the accident as your ongoing rate.  For this reason, you might not want to stay on benefits forever.

Call Our Workers’ Compensation Attorneys in Media, PA Today

Call (267) 651-7945 for a free case evaluation with our Workers’ Comp lawyers at Cardamone Law today.