Every state has a legal requirement for employers to have insurance that covers their employees in case they sustain an injury in their work environment. This insurance offsets the expenses associated with medical care or the lost wages related to the work-related injury. Other than this, workers’ compensation is designed to recompense employees for any disability they might incur and their loved ones in the event of their death.
One element of workers’ compensation that needs the expertise of a work injury attorney from Salt Lake City to pursue is the indemnity or disability benefits. These are subject to legal maximum and minimum payments, which total to statutory maximum and minimum amount of payments. These limits are based on a worker’s injuries and the required length of recovery.
Here are the four classifications of workers’ disability benefits in work-related injuries.
Temporary Partial Benefits
This condition denotes injuries from which workers are expected to recover within a short period with no or minimal long-term effects. With temporary partial injuries, employees can often return to work and handle light duties until their injury heals.
Under this category, the compensation for the employees includes medical expenses and lost wages or differential pay if the light duty assignment they are handling attracts a lower income than their usual one.
Temporary Total
This classification encompasses workers in whom a full recovery is expected but are unable to handle any assignments for a set period. Temporary total injuries are mostly those in which an employee is put on bed rest or has to use a wheelchair for some time.
In these injuries, the worker is entitled to medical expenses and lost wages according to a state’s maximum and minimum limits. A large portion of states will pay temporary total benefits for the length of an employee’s disability, while one state has a limit for the payment at the point of “maximum improvement of health.” Others have a specific cut off payment period of 104-500 weeks after an injury.
Permanent Partial
This category includes all injuries from which a worker will never recover but will not keep them from resuming employment. The benefits paid in this case include medical expenses and statutory and rehabilitative benefits. A few states will pay the disability benefits throughout an employee’s life while some have time limits for the payments ranging from 200-1500 weeks.
Permanent Total
Here, the worker’s injury is deemed permanent, and they are unable to resume work. The benefits paid in this category encompass medical bills needed for maximum relief or cure and lost earnings. Some states will continue the payments over the worker’s life while others have an age or time limit usually 65 years or 500 weeks respectively.
Without proper legal representation, an insurance company will use every chance to strip you of what you are rightfully owed in disability benefits. In most cases, this injustice is successful since the requirements for these benefits vary in different states. This should be the primary reason you should never go it alone in your pursuit of compensation after a work-related injury.
