| A. |
Whether or not the employer believes the injury is work-related,
prompt reporting to the employer is necessary and required.
Employees should ensure their rights to benefits by providing the
employer a written notice of the injury, no matter how minor. To do
that the employee must:
- Report the injury to your supervisor as soon as possible.
- Tell your supervisor everything you can about the injury -
what, where, when and how it happened.
- Get prompt medical care for the injury.
- Inform your employer about your medical condition and when you
can return to work if the injury caused you to miss work.
An employee who fails to notify the employer of a work injury
within thirty days may jeopardize his or her ability to receive
workers' compensation benefits.
| Q. |
What are the benefits for an injured worker through
workers' compensation? |
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| A. |
Workers' Compensation law provides three types of benefits for a
person who is injured while performing work-related duties.
- The employee is entitled to receive medical treatment for the
work-related injury and does not have to pay for that treatment.
The employer or insurer makes payment. But remember that the
employer has the right by law to select the physician. So if you
seek treatment that has not been authorized, you may have to pay
for that treatment yourself.
- Temporary total disability (TTD) is compensation for the time
the doctor says you are unable to work because of the injury. You
will not receive TTD benefits for the first three regularly
scheduled workdays you are off unless you are off longer than 14
calendar days. Those benefits are calculated at two-thirds of your
average weekly wage not to exceed a maximum rate set by the
legislature. Your average weekly wage is determined according to
how your wages are fixed, whether by the week, by the month, by the
year or by some other method, such as amount of sales. Temporary
total disability benefits cease when the doctor says you are able
to return to work. Although those wages are only two-thirds of your
average wage, it is important to remember they are tax-free.
- Compensation for a permanent disability. Once a doctor has done
all he or she feels can be done medically to help you, and you are
not as physically able as you were before the injury, then you have
a disability. And if there isn't anything else the doctor can do to
make you any better, your disability will be "permanent," meaning
you will suffer the effect of the injury from that point on. That
disability will either be "total" meaning you are unable to perform
any work, or "partial" which means you are able to work but there
are limitations or restrictions as to what you are able to do. If
you are determined to be permanently and totally disabled, your
benefits will continue for the rest of your life. If your
disability is a permanent partial disability (PPD), the legislature
has established a formula to convert that disability into a dollar
amount. The maximum weekly wage amount for a permanent partial
disability is less than the maximum for the temporary total
disability because the disability is partial instead of total.
Compensation is for the disability only. The law does not provide
compensation for pain and suffering.
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