How Long Will This Go On? Timing Out Your Workers' Comp Case
If you have been hurt at work, you might be wondering how long you can keep getting paid workers' compensation. Learn more about the way workers' comp benefits are timed by reading below.
Recuperation Pay
If your workers' compensation doctor wants you to remain home after a workplace injury, the timing of how long you can receive disability pay depends on your injury. This phase of workers' compensation benefits focuses on healing so that the worker can return to the job. Not all injuries heal, and some can be slow to heal. Each state allows workers different time limits on how long they can remain on partial disability payments at home.
Maximum Medical Improvement
Workers' compensation insurers have a term for workers who have reached a plateau in healing. Maximum medical improvement (MMI) is not the end of medical coverage or benefits for the worker. Rather, it's the beginning of a new phase for the worker. Since no major improvement in healing is anticipated with the MMI ruling, there is the possibility of either a partial or full permanent disability.
Light Duty Pay
Your workers' compensation doctor may determine that you are ready to return to work on light duty. That means you have restrictions on how much you can do and how long. Many light-duty workers work part-time only for a time. Some may be assigned sedentary tasks to be done while seated.
Permanently Disabled
When an injury fails to get better, even after weeks or months of recuperation, the worker may have a permanent disability. In some cases, however, the injury is known to be permanent almost right away. Catastrophic injuries like severe burns, amputations, paralysis, and others may lead to a quick determination by the workers' comp doctor and insurer. They may be ruled to be at MMI and then offered certain benefits.
Suitable Employment
Once a worker is ruled to be permanently disabled, they may also be ruled to be able to work at certain jobs. These jobs are known as suitable jobs and they must meet requirements that take into consideration the worker's disability, job history, education, location, and more.
Seek Legal Help
If you have been ruled to be permanently disabled, even if not 100% disabled, speak to a workers' compensation lawyer. You may not agree with the rulings, and you have a right to appeal them. A workers' comp lawyer knows the rules that apply to your case and will help you stand up for your rights. For example, don't sit back and accept the ruling that you are able to work at a suitable job when you clearly cannot do so.
Speak to a lawyer and bring the worker's compensation timeline to a successful end. Reach out to a firm like Williams & Swee to learn more.