Reading, PA Workers’ Compensation Lawyers
When a work injury strikes and leaves you in the hospital and unable to get back to your job, you can face a world of physical and economic hurt. Filing a claim with your employer’s Workers’ Compensation can often get your medical bills and a good portion of your lost wages covered, all without needing to prove that anyone was at fault for your injuries. However, the process can be daunting, and you should always get help before filing.
Our attorneys represent injured workers and fight insurance companies and employers to get our clients the benefits to which they are entitled. We fight at your side every step of the case, all with the goal of maximizing the compensation you receive and fighting to appeal any denials along the way.
For a free evaluation of your injury case, call the Certified Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation Specialists at Cardamone Law today at (267) 651-7945.
Common Injuries for Workers’ Comp Claims in Reading
If you get hurt at work, your case is probably ideal for a Workers’ Comp claim. Many injury victims immediately think lawsuits are the way to get coverage, but work injuries have an entire system devoted to getting victims the payments they need.
Worker’s Comp covers work-related injuries for employers. Notice that this creates two requirements: 1) the injury needs to be work-related, and 2) you need to qualify as an employee.
Injuries are work-related and should get Workers’ Comp benefits as long as they occurred within the scope of your employment or job tasks. A worker is an employee as long as they get paid an hourly wage or salary (as opposed to a contract price) and work under a supervisor or boss’ direction (rather than independently).
In addition, an injury needs to keep you out of work to qualify you for wage-loss benefits. This applies to both total disability, where you cannot work at all, and partial disability, where you can work with modified tasks, accommodations, reduced hours, etc.
Under these rules, any of the following common workplace injuries should qualify for Workers’ Comp claims:
Back Injuries
Whether you hurt your back in a fall, while lifting or carrying, or while pulling, pushing, or moving something for work, it likely qualifies as a work injury. Many jobs require these back-breaking tasks, and back injuries are one of the most common work injuries.
Back injuries range in severity. Some involve pulled muscles and strains that heal in a few days or weeks, while others involve slipped and herniated discs. Surgery is sometimes required. Other back injuries result in broken vertebrae or spinal cord injury, causing long-term disabilities like paralysis.
Muscle, Tendon, and Soft Tissue Injuries
All of the muscles, tendons, and tissues that let your body move are vulnerable to a few forms of injury. First, tears, strains, pulls, and other similar injuries often stem from overexertion or heavy labor, causing acute injuries that need time to heal. Second, repetitive tasks can injure you over time, leading to weakness, inflammation, or tears. Third, blunt force trauma can cause injuries during another accident.
With any of these injuries, time to heal is vital. If you get back to work before you heal, you can reinjure yourself, undoing your progress and making the injury worse. Additionally, physical therapy is often needed to get your strength back or re-learn motions and tasks post-injury.
In many cases, a slow return to work is necessary. This could mean changing total disability to partial disability benefits before you a full-capacity return to work, potentially complicating your Workers’ Comp case.
Head and Brain Injuries
Hitting your head during a fall, in a crash, in a crane/machinery accident, or because of falling materials can cause head injuries. These have three primary concerns: the physical damage, the internal damage, and brain bleeding.
Physical damage to your head can involve a broken skull, broken orbital, jaw and mouth injuries, scarring, blindness, and more. Some injuries take a while to heal, while some never do, potentially resulting in additional “specific loss” benefits.
Internal damage can involve concussions or traumatic brain injury (TBI). Concussions usually heal somewhat quickly but require downtime to avoid aggravation or re-injury. However, some concussions leave victims with long-term symptoms. TBIs are often debilitating injuries that last for years and may result in total, permanent disabilities.
Brain bleeds are acute, life-threatening injuries. You should always seek screening and emergency treatment for brain injuries in case there is bleeding. If there is, you may need surgery and a long healing period, all of which Workers’ Comp should pay for.
Broken Bones
Broken bones are not always serious or life-threatening, but they do typically need at least 4-6 weeks to heal.
Some breaks – like finger fractures – might not keep you from working. If you work a “desk job,” then a broken leg might not keep you from work either. However, injuries to the body parts you need for your job will certainly keep you from work, as will serious breaks like neck, hip, ribs, back, or skull fractures.
Because broken bones are not always totally disabling, you may be able to return to work with modified tasks. For example, if you normally stand for work, you may be able to keep working with a broken leg by asking for a chair, all without lost wages.
However, many injuries still require some healing period – especially if surgery was needed – and will involve some total disability time.
The Process of Getting Workers’ Comp in Reading
When you initially apply for benefits, you will usually get your case rejected. This initial claim is made directly with your employer, who files with their insurance carrier. Either one can deny the claim.
If they have some reasonable grounds – such as a doubt that your injury happened at work – they can rely on that. If they ignore your claim or deny you without a reasonable excuse, that could be grounds for our Workers’ Compensation lawyers to ask the judge to order your employer to cover your legal fees.
Either way, a denial gives us grounds to take the case before a judge by filing a Claim Petition. This hands the judge the decision of whether you get benefits or not, taking the decision away from the employer and insurance carrier. They will contest your claim and try to get it rejected, but the judge looks at neutral evidence to decide.
Cases often go back to court at various stages, such as when you return to work at partial capacity or if your employer accuses you of violating rules, missing doctor’s appointments, refusing treatment, or refusing available work. Our lawyers can handle every stage of the case.
We also handle the pre-hearing stages during evidence collection. We guide you through what doctor’s exams you might need and can take depositions of witnesses, doctors, and other parties to get proof that your injury was work-related and that it is disabling.
In many cases, your claim will actually end with a settlement. We can advise you as to whether the offer is accurate and appropriate and negotiate for a better offer if it is not.
Workers’ Compensation FAQs
In the immediate aftermath of a workplace injury, workers and their families are often understandably riddled with questions. Some of the most common are the following:
What Do Workers’ Compensation Benefits Cover in Reading, PA?
Injury benefits for workers usually include medical coverage as well as wage-loss benefits.
In general, medical benefits should cover any and all necessary care to treat your work-related injury or illness. As long as the condition and the treatment can be tied back to an injury that occurred within the scope of your work, you should receive full coverage for the medical care costs, medication, therapy bills, and more.
Wage-loss benefits might not cover your entire paycheck, but this evens out, given the fact that medical care costs are not coming out of your pocket. In general, 2/3 of your average weekly wages will be paid to you as long as you are out of work. In some cases, lower wage earners can get 90% of their wages.
Additionally, “specific loss” payments are made in cases of amputations, loss of function, permanent facial scarring, or injuries resulting in lost hearing or vision.
Am I Entitled to Workers’ Compensation in Reading?
Workers’ Compensation should be available to all employees in the Commonwealth with some exceptions. Federal workers, realtors, longshore workers, and certain other workers are specifically exempt from coverage, but often because they work as independent contractors or because they are covered by a different Workers’ Compensation system (e.g., the federal system).
Otherwise, full-time employees are supposed to be covered across most industries in the state. However, some “casual” employees might also be exempt from coverage, so check with our Certified Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation Specialists to see if you are covered.
One big point of contention in coverage is with independent contractors. If you control the time, place, and manner of your own work instead of your employer telling you what to do, you might be classified as an independent contractor instead of an “employee.” If that is the case, your employer does not have to cover you, and you might not have Workers’ Compensation.
However, many employers misclassify workers, trying to skip out on coverage for workers who deserve the benefits they are supposed to receive. This is especially true of so-called “gig workers.”
Who Will Pay My Medical Bills in Case of a Workplace Injury in Reading?
Your employer’s Workers’ Compensation is supposed to pay for any and all medical care deemed necessary for your treatment. In some cases, coverage is paid directly by an employer or through a third party. However, the core requirement of the Workers’ Compensation Act is that your employer pays for your work injuries, not you.
Workers’ Compensation is not a program that you should be required to pay into like you do with Social Security or Medicare. Instead, it is fully your employer’s responsibility.
Do I Get My Full Pay If I Get Injured at Work in Reading, PA?
Generally, injured workers receive 2/3 of their average weekly wages as wage-loss benefits. This is subject to a maximum benefit of $1,347 per week in 2025.
Workers earning under $1,010.26 per week but over $748.32 should receive $673.50 per week, which is 1/2 of that upper limit. If you make $748.32 per week or less, your benefit should be 90% of your average wage.
This is based on the year the injury occurred, and you can view the rate for different years on the PA Department of Labor website. A lawyer can determine the wage-loss benefit rate in your specific case or help you decide whether a lump sum settlement might be better for you.
Can I Sue My Employer for Workplace Injuries in Reading?
Our Workers’ Compensation lawyers only handle Workers’ Comp claims, focusing on getting our clients benefits that way. This is because – in most cases – you are barred from suing an employer for workplace injuries.
There are some exceptions where lawsuits against a boss are allowed, such as when your employer has no Workers’ Comp coverage or where the injured worker is an independent contractor.
In many cases, your employer is not actually going to be the one at fault, so a lawsuit against them would not work anyway. This is common in cases where the injured worker was actually the one who caused their own injuries by accident.
Workers’ Comp allows you to claim benefits no matter who caused the injury, as long as it was not caused by your own intentional acts or by your intoxication, drug use, or illegal acts.
Do I Even Need a Workers’ Compensation Lawyer?
Insurance companies will rely on the fact that you are likely not an insurance expert and do not know what your rights and entitlements are. They may intentionally act in bad faith to undercut your case. Even when they are acting in good faith, they may try to shut down your case by claiming that your injuries were not in fact work-related or by having their doctors deny your diagnosis.
In these cases, it can be exceedingly difficult for an injured worker to get compensation without working with an experienced Workers’ Compensation attorney. In fact, working with an attorney is statistically more likely to result in a win in your case.
Plus, our attorneys have combined decades of experience and can put it to use for you, helping to smooth out the process, speed up claims where possible, and help you understand what your benefits should be worth.
Cardamone Law – Certified Workers’ Compensation Attorney in Reading
Being Certified Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation Specialists means we are in the unique position to have studied the law in great depth and detail. It allows us to understand its nuances and see that our cases work for injured workers as they are meant to.
A Boutique Law Firm Experience
Our clients are not nameless files or numbered cases that we work on. As we are a boutique law firm, highly specialized in our niche, and with seasoned professionals in our team, we are a focused, battle-hardened, and potent crew to have on your side as you go to war with your employer or their insurer.
We yield no inch of ground and leave not a penny on the table. Whether in trial or at the negotiating table, we stand guard over your rights and fight for every last dime you are owed.
Same-Day Free Case Reviews
We understand how debilitating it could be to fall victim to a work-related accident. To immediately put all our potential clients at ease, we offer same-day free case reviews.
Our Reading Workers’ Compensation attorneys take a look at the details of your case and give you a general overview of where things stand. Once you decide to put your case into our care, we sit with you and determine a strategy for the case.
Pay Us Only When You Get Paid
At Cardamone Law, we work on a contingency fee basis. This simply means that we only get paid if you do; no money is required to hire us for your work injury cases.
This makes us accessible to a wide range of injured workers from a variety of backgrounds and prevents them from having to worry about how to pay us.
We Fight for Workers’ Rights
Every year, thousands of employers deny or try to diminish rightful injury claims filed by honest and hardworking employees who get injured on the job. Cardamone Law was formed with the singular purpose of fighting for each injured worker in the Commonwealth and getting them what they are owed. In the past 20+ years, we have done exactly that. We are thorough, dedicated, and highly skilled Workers’ Compensation attorneys in Reading, PA.
Call Our Reading, PA Workers’ Compensation Lawyers Today
If you were hurt at work, call Cardamone Law at (267) 651-7945 for a free case review with our Workers’ Compensation lawyers today.
