Workers' Compensation

Workers' Compensation

If you are injured on the job, regardless of whose fault it is, you and/or your family may be entitled to certain benefits under Pennsylvania’s Workers’ Compensation Act, including, but not limited to, lost wage benefits, medical care for the work injuries, and loss of use benefits.

The rights and duties afforded you under Pennsylvania’s Workers’ Compensation Act can be quite complicated.  Your employer and the employer’s workers’ compensation insurance carrier have no duty to inform you of what your rights or benefits might be under the Act. Therefore, seeking a free initial consultation from an experienced workers’ compensation attorney will allow you to educate yourself on your rights and potential benefits. We only get paid if you retain us to represent you in your workers’ compensation claim and only if we win benefits for you.

When seeking compensation for a workplace injury, you are required to notify your supervisor of the injury as soon as possible and the employer has the right to direct your medical care for the first 90 days of treatment.  You should notify your employer of your injury within 21 days of its occurrence to maximize your recovery, and in no event later than 120 days from the time of the accident. If, during that period of time, the doctors to whom your employer has sent you clear you to return to work and you do not feel you are able to return to work because of the work injury, you are entitled to get another medical opinion.  As long as you are disabled from work due to a workplace injury, you are entitled to lost wages, based on your prior earnings. There are three main stages of a Workers’ Compensation claim: the initial injury, the period while you are receiving benefits, and settlement.

1. Initial Injury:

• Within 21 days of receiving notification of your work injury, your employer must issue a “Notice of Compensation Payable” if they are going to accept and pay the claim, a “Notice of Temporary Compensation Payable,” which gives the employer more time to consider the claim and possibly deny it, or a “Notice of Compensation Denial.” If the employer issues this Notice, you need to file a Claim Petition with the Bureau of Workers’ Compensation within three years of its issuance.  In order to be successful with such a claim, you will need to have properly notified your employer of your injury, seen an appropriate medical specialist who has diagnosed your injury and causally related it to the work incident, and who states within a reasonable degree of medical certainty that you are disabled from your work as a result of the work injury.  

1. While Receiving Benefits:

• Even after accepting and paying a claim, employers and their workers’ compensation carriers will often try to force an employee’s return to work before they are capable.  In such cases, the employer’s workers’ compensation carrier will file a Petition to Suspend, Modify, or Terminate an injured employee’s benefits with the Bureau of Workers’ Compensation.  This is usually done after either an employer panel doctor, treating physician, or medical examiner paid for by the workers’ compensation carrier says the employee can return to work. In the event that you do not feel you are able to return to work, you will need to obtain a medical opinion supporting your assertion and respond to the employer’s workers’ compensation insurance carrier’s Petition.

1. Settlement:

• In the event that you are unable to return to your work and have been receiving workers’ compensation benefits, the workers’ compensation carrier may be interested in relieving themselves of the responsibility of continuing to pay you benefits.  In such cases, the workers’ compensation insurance carrier may offer you a lump sum payment known as a Compromise and Release Agreement.  A worker’s rights under the Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation Act should not be given up without thorough and careful consideration. You should remember that the workers’ compensation insurance carrier’s interest is not necessarily in paying you the full value for your claim, but rather saving the insurance company money. That is why it is important to contact a knowledgeable workers’ compensation attorney, like those at Silver & Silver, to make sure you are adequately represented.