Workers’ Compensation Articles

If you have been injured at work and the injury has caused you to miss work, you are wondering if you are required to be compensated for those days missed.

In Pennsylvania, all employers are required to carry workers compensation insurance. If you are involved in a work-related injury, report the injury to a manager and/or supervisor immediately and make sure that the employer reports the injury to their workers’ compensation carrier. The insurance carrier then has 21 days to accept or deny the claim.

If the claim is accepted, you may be entitled to wage loss benefits depending on how many days you have been out of work. Wage loss benefits are payable on the 8th day after the injury. Once you are out of work for 14 days, then wage loss benefits are retroactive and wage loss benefits can be received for the first seven days as well.…

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I was injured on the job and received a Notice of Temporary Compensation Payable, what does this mean?

A Notice of Temporary Compensation Payable is a way for an employer’s insurance company to begin paying your wage-loss benefits without having to accept liability for the claim. The insurance company is essentially agreeing to pay wage-loss benefits on a temporary basis while they continue to investigate the claim and reserve the right to deny your claim if they believe that your injury was not work-related or for any other basis to deny a claim.

Temporary workers compensation benefits last for only 90 days. In order to stop your benefits, the employer must send a Notice of Denial within the 90 day period or a Notice of Stopping Temporary Compensation Payable within 5 days of the 90-day period elapsing. If neither notice if received within the required time period, workers’ compensation benefits …

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If you have been injured during the course of employment, you are entitled to wage-loss benefits while you are unable to work due to your injury. You may be wondering what happens in the event that the employer’s doctor clears you to return to light-duty work that is within your medical restrictions.

First, if you are cleared to return to light-duty work, you can continue receiving workers’ compensation benefits until the employer notifies you that light-duty work is available. Once you receive a light-duty offer, you can choose to accept or decline the offer.

If the offer is declined because you feel that you are unable to return to work, the employer can file a petition to terminate or modify your workers’ comp benefits. The workers’ compensation judge would then decide whether your WC benefits should be terminated or modified following a hearing. However, you would be able to use …

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If you have been injured due to a work-related injury, you are entitled to a portion of your lost wages. Generally, an employee received about two-thirds of their lost wages. However, wage-loss benefits are subject to certain caps, as well as different tiers.  How much you receive also depends on the type of your disability and whether you were considered totally disabled or partially disabled.

Total Disability Wage-Loss Benefits

If you cannot work at all due to your injury, you will receive the following wage-loss benefits.

• If you make more than $1,287.00 per week you will receive $858 per meek (the maximum amount of compensation allowable)
• If you make between $643.51 and $1,287.00 per week ” you will receive 66.667% (two-thirds) of your average weekly wage.
• If you make between $476.67 and $643.50 per week ” you will receive $429.00 per week.
• If you make $476.66 per week or

Every employer is required to carry workers’ compensation insurance in Pennsylvania. In the event that an employee is injured during the course of employment, the employee’s medical bills and lost wages should be covered by the employer’s policy. However, WC claims are routinely denied by insurance carriers, typically on the basis that the alleged injury is non-work related.

Reporting the Injury

As soon as you are injured while working, you should report the injury to your employer. Written notice is preferred, but oral notice suffices. You have 120 days to report the injury to your employer or you will be barred from recovery. Once the employer is notified of the injury, they should complete an Employer’s First Report of Injury form (Form LIBC-344) and submit the form to their workers’ compensation insurance carrier and the Bureau of Workers’ Compensation. You have the right to receive a copy of this form.…

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