Upper Darby Workers’ Compensation Lawyers

Workers’ Compensation insurance offers payment for lost income and medical expenses related to employees’ on-the-job injuries. These benefits can be crucial to workers when seeking to get their lives back on track.

Most employers must carry this coverage for their employees. However, their insurance companies will often attempt to refute injured workers’ claims. If you were hurt at work in Upper Darby, PA, then support from our team can be invaluable. We will help gather evidence to support your claim and fight to recover the full extent of payment available to you.

Get support from our Certified Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation Specialists at Cardamone Law by calling (267) 651-7945.

Who Can Get Workers’ Comp?

Pennsylvania law requires that all employers that might have even one worker get injured within our borders carry Workers’ Comp insurance to pay for those injuries. The amounts paid are discussed below, but it is important to understand if you are a qualifying employee – or “employe” as the statute calls it – who can receive these benefits.

Employer vs. Independent Contractor Rules

An “employe” under the Workers’ Comp Act is a worker whose employer controls the time, location, and manner of their work. This means that if you go to work and do as your boss/supervisor says, you are probably an employee. Contrast this with an independent contractor – a worker who is able to control how and when they do their work and merely delivers a completed product or service to their clients.

Independent contractors are essentially treated as self-employed, and therefore have no employer to pay for Workers’ Comp insurance for them. Most other workers should be covered, and our Workers’ Compensation attorneys can examine the facts of your specific employment setup to determine whether you are covered or not.

Special Situations for Subcontractors and Employees of Contractors

Generally, people who work directly for a general contractor are their employees, and they should be covered by Workers’ Comp the same as any other employee. Otherwise, if the contractor hires a subcontractor, they are also “contractors” under these definitions and similarly get no coverage from their general contractor.

In other situations where a business lets out part of its normal business to a contractor, that contractor would still be required to carry Workers’ Compensation coverage for their employees. If they do not, the law actually puts the burden of covering the contractor’s injured workers on the overarching business that hired the contractors. People often refer to these rules as “statutory employer” rules.

Former Employees

If your injury stems from work with a previous employer, you would typically file your claim with them rather than filing with your current employer. This most commonly comes up in cases of occupational illness, where a health condition like cancer did not appear immediately. Instead of having your current employer cover you, you can often reach back to your old employer for coverage.

You can also still claim Workers’ Comp after being fired or let go, in many cases. For example, if you caused the accident that injured you, and your employer fired you for your negligence, they still likely have to pay for your injuries through Workers’ Comp. Losing your job typically does not stop you from qualifying for coverage if your injury happened while you were still working for the employer you are filing against.

Common Types of Workplace Injuries that Occur in Upper Darby, PA

Workplace injuries can come in many different forms. If you suffered any of the following during while carrying out your job duties, then our Workers’ Compensation lawyers can review the strength of your potential claim:

Broken Bones

Broken bones are a very prevalent form of on-the-job injury. These injuries can be highly painful and debilitating. Further, in severe cases, those with broken bones may require surgical treatment in order to heal properly. Accordingly, many employees who suffer these injuries are prevented from returning to work until they have significantly recovered.

Soft Tissue Injuries

Soft tissue injuries are another common form of workplace injury. These injuries typically involve damage to tendons, muscles, and ligaments. Workers who experience soft tissue injuries may suffer from pain, swelling, and limited mobility.

Spinal Cord Injuries

Spinal cord injuries are a particularly serious type of on-the-job injury that can be incurred. These injuries can cause victims to experience partial or complete paralysis. Accordingly, some workers who sustain spinal cord injuries will be permanently restricted from returning to their pre-injury job duties.

Chemical Exposure Illnesses

Chemical exposure illnesses refer to illnesses that workers can incur after coming into contact with hazardous substances and toxic chemicals. For instance, an employee may develop a chemical exposure injury after breathing in dangerous fumes or gasses on their worksite.

The types of illnesses caused by dangerous chemical exposure often cause respiratory problems, skin irritation, and neurological disorders. Also, in severe cases, these illnesses may even lead health complications like cancer and internal organ damage.

Brain Injuries

Brain injuries are common workplace injuries in fields such as construction, manufacturing, and transportation. In many cases, this type of injury is caused by a vehicle collision, a strike from a falling object, or a fall from a tall height.

In many cases, those who suffer brain damage from a brain injury experience cognitive impairments that significantly inhibit their abilities to work. Moreover, many employees with brain injuries with require costly, long-term medical treatment.

Internal Organ Damage

After some workplace accidents, victims will incur internal organ damage. For instance, a warehouse worker who suffers a crush injury may sustain damage to their liver, kidney, or spleen. Alternatively, a delivery driver may suffer such damage after an on-the-job vehicle collision.

Damage to internal organs can be highly painful and even life-threatening. However, these injuries may not be immediately apparent. If you suffered a workplace accident, then it is imperative that you seek medical treatment quickly. That way, your doctor will be able to identify any internal injuries you may have incurred.

Lacerations and Punctures

Laceration and punctures are also common forms of on-the-job injuries. These types of injuries are regularly incurred by workers who utilize sharp tools and complex machinery. Many of those who incur lacerations and punctures are temporarily prevented from working. Further, in serious cases, victims may require surgical treatment.

Facial and Dental Injuries

Finally, some workplace accidents will cause victims to incur facial and dental injuries. These injuries can be highly painful. Additionally, many of those who incur facial and dental injuries must undergo reconstructive surgery to restore the appearance and function of affected body parts.

How Much Can You Recover for Medical Expenses in an Upper Darby Workers’ Compensation Claim

Workers’ Compensation benefits may provide payment for any reasonable medical expenses related to your workplace injury. For instance, the cost of your hospital treatment, surgical operations, prescription medications, prosthetic devices, and post-operative therapy may all be covered.

Still, to obtain payment for medical expenses, it is important that you abide by your doctor’s orders. If you fail to comply with your treatment plan, then your employer or their insurer may assert that you are not truly hurt and attempt to halt benefits. In many cases, insurance defense teams will hire private investigators to follow claimants and ensure that they are not doing anything wrong.

By following your doctor’s orders, you will demonstrate your commitment to healing and prove that your injuries are serious enough to actually need the prescribed treatments. In turn, this will improve your claim’s chances of success.

How Much Can You Recover for Lost Wages in an Upper Darby Workers’ Compensation Claim?

Typically, lost wage benefits will provide you with 2/3 of your average weekly income, up to certain limits. However, in certain cases, claimants may be awarded up to 90% of their pre-injury wages. Pay rates are a bit different for partially disabled workers.

Total Disability

Totally disabling injuries – those that keep you from working any job, even with accommodations – will pay you the 2/3 rate, but they are subject to a cap equal to the statewide average weekly wage. This rate is set annually, and for 2025, the statewide average weekly wage is $1,347. This means that if 2/3 of your weekly pay is higher than that cap, your payment will be $1,347 per week.

There is also a floor for these benefits, set at 1/2 the statewide average or 90% of your weekly wage, whichever is lower. That means that if your weekly wage ranges from $748.33 to $1,010.25, you receive $673.50 per week. If your average weekly wage is $748.32 or lower, you will receive 90% of your weekly wage as benefits.

Partial Disability

If you are not totally disabled and still have some income – either through reduced work hours, altered work tasks, or accommodations – then your pay is 2/3 of the difference between what you made before and after the injury.

How Wage-Loss Benefits Are Paid

Workers’ Comp’s wage loss benefits are usually discussed in terms of weekly pay. However, the actual schedule on which you receive benefits will usually change to match your typical pay schedule before the injury. That means that if you got paid bi-weekly before the injury, you will receive your checks every two weeks; if you got paid every week, then you will get a weekly check. Either way, the amount is the same: a bi-weekly check is just double your weekly benefit rate.

Reasons Why Workers’ Compensation Claims Are Denied in Upper Darby, PA

In most cases, a denial is going to come from your employer or their insurance carrier at the beginning of the case, and you should not take this denial at face value. Employers can often point to any small fact at this stage to say that your injury was not work-related or that your injury is not disabling and deny your claim on those grounds. It is only after your case is tested before a neutral judge that any real weighing of the evidence takes place.

Not Work-Related

An injury needs to be work-related for Workers’ Comp payments to issue. This means that if your employer can provide evidence that the injury happened at home, on the weekend, or during non-work tasks, they might be able to deny your claim. However, the scope of what constitutes a “work-related” injury is actually very broad, and our attorneys can often overcome denials based on these grounds.

To prove your case was work-related, we must gather evidence and depositions from witnesses as well as statements from your doctors that relate the injury back to your work tasks.

Not Disabling

If your injury is not disabling, then you will not have to miss any work for it. This might not lead to a total denial of your claim, as the insurance carrier will still have to pay for any medical care to treat your injuries. However, they can deny payments for lost wages on these grounds.

Instead of totally denying your disability, insurance carriers might argue about the degree of disability. If you are partially disabled and can go back to work with some modified tasks or accommodations, then the insurance carrier has to pay for far less in wage-loss benefits. However, a compromise position like this is unacceptable; you should not be forced to work when you are unable to, and you should receive full benefits if you are totally disabled.

Failing to Give Notice

Usually, injured workers have to notify their employer or the Workers’ Comp carrier of their injury within 21 days. If they fail to, it can slow down their claim significantly. If you wait more than 120 days to give notice, then you cannot file your claim at all.

This is a hard cutoff that is nearly impossible to overcome, so talk to our attorneys as early as you can in your case.

Call Our Law Firm for Assistance After Suffering a Workplace Injury in Upper Darby, PA

Seek help from our Workers’ Compensation attorneys today by reaching out to Cardamone Law at (267) 651-7945.